My love from the sea
by sassysis10
Summary: Riku is a merman who travels with his friend Sora to Destiny islands awaiting the magic of the full moon. Vera is a girl on Destiny Islands who has lost her grasp on life. Events unfold and these two must help each other to save themselves. RikuXOC
1. It begins

The golden sun of Destiny Islands was finally setting beneath the sea after another long hot day. Its rays of endless light transformed the sky and clouds into an assortment of mystifying colors that words could not describe. It was as if the waves were waving farewell as the salty breeze sung a lonesome song. All was quiet and peaceful…that is until a rushing sound broke it as two young mermen went speeding as fast as missiles through the water, disturbing the silence.

"_Looks like I'm winning, Sora!" _

A merman with long silver hair glanced over his shoulder as he sped through the water, taking a glimpse of his spiky brunette haired companion trailing along behind him. His black and silver tail, that resembled that of a dolphin's, continued to pump through the crystal clear water keeping his arms close to his sides to keep his speed up. His muscular chest heaved in and out, inhaling the water that supplied him with air. The other young merman, named Sora, was barely able to keep up with his lifetime best friend as they raced miles across the ocean. Sora's deep blue eyes were squinted as he kicked his blue dolphin like tail through the water. He tried his best to keep up with his friend, but he was losing…again.

"_C'mon, Sora! I'm not even trying this time! At least put up some kind of a fight!"_ The silver haired merman spoke telepathically to Sora, his teal eyes full of pride and mischief.

Sora was beginning to pant. _"I'm pacing myself. I'll beat you. I've got it all planned out. Today will be the day you lose your first race, Riku!" _He spoke back through his mind to the silver haired boy, whose name was Riku.

Riku rolled his eyes as he skidded close along the surface. _"We have half a mile left. You'll never catch up!" _Sora frowned and began swimming faster to catch up with Riku. Riku was surprised that Sora suddenly came neck and neck with him so quickly. Sora smirked at him.

"_Surprise! You're going down Riku, down to the bottom of the ocean! Oh, yeah, I'm gonna beat you!" _

Riku chuckled. _"So, you've finally decided to take this race seriously…okay. Then I will too." _

Suddenly with a pump of Riku's tail he got ahead of Sora by a few feet. Sora was amazed that Riku had gotten there so quickly, even for him. _Whoa…_ Sora thought to himself cutting his thoughts off from Riku. _I've never seen him go that fast._

"_Three…Two…One…I win!" _

Riku cheered as he finished the mile. He leaped up out of the water to do a victory flip. He reached out towards the sky laughing as he tried to touch the clouds, then he splashed back into the water. Sora hid a pouty look from him then smiled.

"_That was great, Riku! I've never seen you go so fast. You were like a natural barracuda_."

Riku smiled at him and patted him on the back. _"Thanks. You were good too. You almost beat me and that's saying something."_

Sora shrugged. _"Well for your sake I decided to let you have one more moment of glory. But the next race is mine." _

Riku coughed to hide a laugh. _"We'll see…"_

Riku looked up at the surface and nodded to Sora. They both came up, their heads bobbing around through the waves then stretched out on their backs floating like otters. Sora lay with his hands behind his head and Riku kept his eyes closed letting his arms spread out on either side of him. Sora sighed.

"_How much longer do we have to go?"_ He asked.

"_According to the sonar map your Dad gave me it's not too far."_

Sora snorted at the mention of his Dad. _"I still don't understand why he said he couldn't trust me with a sonar map. My sonar skills are good. I'm not forgetful."_

It was when Sora said that that Riku laughed out loud. Sora lifted his head up in a scowl. _"No, you're not forgetful, that's true. You just get distracted…constantly."_

"_What?! I don't get distracted! I'm very focused." _Sora protested.

Riku got a funny idea to tease Sora. _"Hey, Sora…" _

"_What?"_

"_Shark!"_

"_Shit! Where?!" _Sora dove underwater looking around, but saw no shark. When he came back up he discovered Riku in a fit of giggles. _"That wasn't funny. I can't hear sharks!"_

"_Yes it was. And Sora we can hear sharks from a mile away with our hearing and sonar. You just don't pay attention."_

"_Really? I didn't know that. Dad doesn't tell me anything about sonar. Oh, and I do too pay attention, thank you very much." _Riku just shook his head and thought. _Same ole Sora. _Sora yawned. _"What do you think will happen to us when the full moon comes?"_

Sora had asked this question many times before, but Riku had no idea. The elder council told them that now that they had become of age, they had to leave. They said it was their time to venture out into the ocean. They were ordered to go to a small islet off the main coast where they would stay after the full moon passed. Once that was done they could come back home. Riku and Sora didn't understand it, but they had trust in their elders so they didn't complain.

"_I don't know, Sora."_

"_How are we suppose to stay on an island—"_

"_Islet." Riku corrected. "It's smaller than a normal island."_

"_Right…but how are we supposed to say _on _an islet or whatever? That's not possible."_

"_They probably meant around the islet. Perhaps there is an underwater cavern we can take residence in while we wait for the full moon to pass. I guess we'll see. We should be there by tomorrow morning. For now let's rest it's been a long day and I'm tired."_

"_Yeah, me too." _

Riku dove back underwater and leaned up against a rock sticking out of the sand. His silver hair flowed around his face as he turned on his side, resting his head on his arm. Sora floated down beside him and leaned up against the rock folding his hands behind his head. They watched as the light from above faded away into darkness. Riku fell asleep easily watching the waxing gibbous moon rise into the night sky…what awaits these two?

It was a brand new day. The sun was peeking up above the ocean to greet the new day casting a morning glow on the landscape. Far away, on the main lands, a 15 year old girl with light brown hair and sad dark brown eyes scrambled through her house trying to get ready for school.

"Damn it! I'm going to be late, again!" She pulled on her blue plaid skirt and buttoned up her white shirt as fast as she could.

"Vera, what are you doing?! Hurry up!" Her dad called.

"I know dad, I am!" She yelled.

She was walking out of her room when she realized she had forgotten something. She stared down at her exposed wrists and grimaced. Vera brushed a hand over the deep cuts. The scabs were swollen and red and very easy to see. Ever since the death of her mother Aerith three years ago, Vera had never been the same. She had never been happy and her father, Cloud Strife, just seemed to make everything worse. He didn't want to do anything that reminded him of Aerith. Vera felt like that's why he avoided her. She was too much like her mother and it pained him be around her. He was always at work, but hardly ever home. He didn't have any time for Vera and when he was at home, he was too exhausted to want to do anything. She didn't understand how being a marine biologist could be so stressful. It wasn't like he was swimming around with sharks everyday. He said he worked hard so he could support them, but Vera didn't feel that way. She felt like he was letting her slip away on purpose.

Vera didn't know why she cut herself. All she knew was, when she did it, it felt good. The flowing of the blood was somehow relaxing. Sometimes she wanted to die and other times she was afraid to. She always felt awful about it later, but while she was doing it, she felt great. The pain made her feel so high.

Vera grabbed several rubber bracelets and slipped them onto her arms to hide the cuts. She raced out of her room picking up her backpack and running into the kitchen. Cloud sat at the table drinking a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper.

"Morning, kiddo? Sleep well." He asked.

Vera picked up a donut on the table stuffing it in her mouth. "Um…yah. it vas kay." She said with a full mouth. She swallowed, then looked up at her dad and smiled. "Hey, dad, I'm gonna rent some movies after school. We can have a movie night, you know, like we use to. You up for it?"

Cloud sighed and looked back down at his newspaper. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Xehanort has got me working late again tonight. We'll do it some other time, I promise."

Vera glared at her father and turned towards the door. "Yeah, okay..." She said disappointed. She knew this is what she would expect from her father. "I'm going to leave now."

"Be careful, Vera. I love you."

"Yeah, you too." She said dully as she slammed the door to their beach house.

Vera took her time getting to school even though she was running late. _Why did I even ask? I knew he'd blow me off. Why do I always hope he'll decide to _try _to be a family? I guess it's just me, I don't know. _Vera thought depressed.

Vera somehow managed to get to school on time by some miracle. She went into home room and sat down beside her best friend Kairi.

"Hey, Vera. What's with the long face?"

Vera sighed. "Dad…"

The red head's face changed to that of sympathy. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is he still being anti-social?"

Vera rested her elbows on the desk, propping her head up by her hands. "As always. He's working over-time again."

Kairi was silent for a moment. She really didn't know how to help Vera with her family problems, but she was always there for her with support. "Don't worry." Kairi assured her with a warm smile. "Maybe he's saving money up to buy you something really awesome. Like a car! Wouldn't it be great if he bought you a hot little sports car?"

Kairi was happy to see Vera smile a little at the idea. "That would be nice."

"Yeah it would! We'd be the hottest girls on the islands. We'd go cruising around, flirting with guys, it would be awesome!"

Vera giggled fantasying with Kairi now. "Sure and maybe we'd get laid." Vera and Kairi went into a fit of giggles. Vera recovered from her laughter and smiled at her childhood friend. "Thanks Kairi. You always know how to cheer me up."

She nodded with a smile. "Hey, want to go hang out with me and Selphie tomorrow? We're going to the islet."

"The islet across that big stretch of water called the ocean…" Vera said slowly.

She cringed at the word water. Vera despised water, because she was terrified of it. When she was a young girl she had nearly died from drowning. She could remember it clearly. The water surrounding her, her lungs screaming for air as she sunk farther into the ocean's depths, she was dying slowly. Vera quickly shook her head to erase the image from her head.

"C'mon, it'll be fun." Kairi pleaded.

"I don't know."

"We'll be exploring around, like when we were little, remember? It's been so long since we've been there. It was Selphie's idea, what do you say?"

"Well…" Vera said uncertainly. _It's not as if we're going swimming or anything so I guess it'll be all right._ She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. I'll go."

"Great! I'll tell Selphie. We're going early in the morning so rest up."

Vera grimaced. "Why so early?"

"I want to takes some pictures of the sunset to add to my album. It'll be nice. Are you still in?"

"Yeah, I'm still in."

"Listen up class…"

The teacher began taking roll while Vera stared out the window seeing the islet far out in the distance.

Sora and Riku's heads popped up out of the water taking a look at the tiny island.

"_We made it Sora." _Riku spoke telepathically.

"_Now what?"_ Sora said.

"_I guess we wait. Hang out here until the full moon passes."_

"_I wonder what's going to happen to us."_

"_Probably nothing." _Riku said. _"Yep, everything will be all right and we'll be back home soon, Sora. This adventure should pass by smoothly."_

Little did Riku know, he was utterly and completely wrong.


	2. First sight

Riku and Sora had made themselves acquainted with the tiny island the previous day, while Vera and Kairi unaware of their presence sat through another long day of school. The young mermen made themselves at home and by the following day had already found their favorite resting place. It was another brilliant morning. Riku and Sora lay stretched out on some rocks near the little island soaking up the early morning rays, dozing off now and then.

Riku sighed. _"I can't even remember the last time I laid out in the sun like this. It's nice."_

Sora yawned. _"Yeah…"_ Riku yawned after Sora. _"Just don't dry yourself out."_

Riku dipped his tail into the water, shook it, and then rested it back up on the rock. Sora yawned again and turned over on his stomach turning his head towards the ocean and closing his eyes. Riku glanced over at him and chuckled.

"_You big fat lazy walrus."_

Sora snorted keeping his eyes closed. _"You're one to talk, you humongous beluga whale."_

They both laughed after that. Riku rested his head back down on the rock and stared up at the sky watching the clouds and birds soar about the trees. His head titled over to the side as he dozed off again. Sora still hadn't fallen asleep though. He opened his eyes a little to see something off in the distance. At first he ignored it, but it kept coming closer. When he finally made out the object his body jerked up in fear.

"_Riku…"_

"_What?" _He said grouchily.

"_B-bo…b…."_ Sora said pointing out at the ocean.

"_Spit it out, Sora or I'm going back to sleep."_

"_Boat!" _Sora screamed along his and Riku's mental link and it rattled Riku's brain it was so loud.

Riku saw the boat and immediately leaped off of his rock and splashed into the water. Sora followed in suit. They hid among the rocks watching the row boat come up to the dock. Sora tried to move in a little closer, but Riku thrust his head down underwater.

"_Riku!" _

"_They'll see you, idiot!"_

They both sunk under the water until only their noses were above the surface. Riku took the humans into account. There were three of them, they were female, and they were stepping out onto the beach. Riku moved in a little closer to get a better look. Sora blew bubbles under the water, clearly aggravated.

_And he just told me not to move closer?_ He thought confused.

Riku leaned up against a small rock on his stomach. He rested one elbow on the rock propping his chin up and gazed out at the three girls. One was short and stocky with blondish brown flipped up hair and wore a yellow dress. Pretty average. The other one was a little taller than the other with dark red hair and blue eyes similar to Sora's. She was wearing a pink outfit and was quite lovely he had to admit. His aquamarine eyes fell upon the last girl and his heart skipped a beat. Sora had swum up beside him and positioned himself like Riku on another rock.

"_Pretty, huh?" _Sora said, but Riku didn't reply. He continued to stare at the last girl. _"That red head is pretty cute…although she'd look better with a tail. Human, they have no idea what they are missing out on"_

"_No, Sora." _Riku said. _"We're missing out…"_

The light brunette had her hair pulled back in a low ponytail with a pink flower around it. Riku could barely make out what seemed to be honey brown eyes. She wore a black and pink tank top with jeans and light brown boots. She was smiling and talking to her friends, but to Riku she seemed sad. Sora noticed that his friend was in some sort of daze.

"_Hey, Riku, are you all right?"_

Riku sighed. _"She's beautiful…"_

"_Huh? Which one?"_

Riku gestured at the brunette. _"That one, the one with the brown hair." _

"_Oh, yeah she is pretty. But I still like the ginger." _

The three girls began laughing at something and then started walking off the beach, moving deeper into the small island. The brunette haired girl tagged along behind them. Riku moved off his rock and swam in closer.

Sora was in shock. His normally cautious friend had now of all times decided to be a dare devil? Sora wasn't going to follow him though. It was too risky.

"_Be careful, Riku…"_

Riku used a rock closer to the shore to prop himself up on his arms to get a better look at the brunette haired girl. Sora's nerves were going haywire. He hid behind a rock biting his nails nervously. As the other two girls went back into a cave (the secret place) the brunette haired girl suddenly stopped and snapped her head around towards the ocean and looked straight at Riku. Sora almost bit his finger off when this happened. Brown eyes met aquamarine. Riku gasped when their eyes met, but he felt something else too. A tight warm feeling had erupted in his chest. It was that feeling that made him not want to look away. He wanted to stare at her forever. He wanted to…

Vera blinked and when she opened her eyes, it was gone. "Wha…" She rubbed her eyes and stared back at the spot where she had seen the handsome silver haired boy. He had had the most gorgeous blue-green eyes she had ever seen. She knew she would never in her lifetime forget eyes like that. Kairi and Selphie poked their heads out from the Secret Place.

"Hey, Vera, what's up?" Selphie said. "C'mon let's go."

Vera didn't reply, but instead ran as fast as she could towards the beach. Kairi and Selphie exchanged confused glances then followed. Vera stopped at the shoreline and scanned the area. _I know. I know that I saw something. I know I did._ She thought. She looked, but there was no sign of the silvered haired boy.

"Uh, Vera?" Kairi started. "What are you doing?"

"I saw something!" She said instantly. "A boy…an angel…I don't know." Selphie gave Kairi a look that said She's-lost-it. "Did you see him?"

Kairi spoke nervously. "No, Vera, I didn't see anything. Are you sure you didn't just…imagine it?"

"Yes! I…" Vera's sentence died out and she looked down. "I think I did."

"Vera…you probably just thought you saw something." Selphie said. "Maybe it was; I don't know a wave or something."

_Yeah, like a wave could form itself into such a handsome boy. Nature's really out done herself this time. _Vera thought sarcastically.

Vera sighed and stared out at the ocean longingly. "I guess you're right." She turned from the ocean and followed Kairi and Selphie into the Secret Place.

Riku was hyperventilating as he got himself back into hiding among the rocks. He leaned his head against a rock panting.

"_What the hell were you doing, Riku! Are you crazy?"_ Sora exclaimed.

Riku shook his head weakly. _"I couldn't…help it, Sora. I had to…had to get closer." _

Sora crossed his arms glaring at his now panic relived friend. _"And now look at you. You're a wreck. You could have gotten yourself killed!" _

Riku turned to stare back at Sora menacingly. _"Well, I didn't so I guess I'm pretty well off."_ He turned away scowling.

Sora sighed. _"You just scared me to death, Riku." _He looked down sadly at the water. _"You're like the big brother I never had. If I lost my big brother…I don't know what I'd do." _

Riku sighed, his anger melting away. He turned to Sora and put his arm around him. _"I'm not going anywhere, Sora." _Sora looked up and he smiled at him. _"So, relax and…" _He started giving Sora a noogie. _"And stop being so up tight!"_

Sora started splashing the water violently with his arms and tail. _"Cut it out, Riku!" _He laughed.

It was late into the night. Vera sat on the sand looking out towards the ocean. Vera estimated that it was maybe around midnight. Kairi and Selphie had left hours ago, but Vera wasn't ready to leave. She didn't want to go home. She tried to avoid home as much as possible. It was just the fact that her father was there and would be ignoring her that she couldn't bring herself to come home. Well, if he wanted to pretend she wasn't there, she'd give him the curtsey of not being there at all. Ever since Aerith had died, Cloud had stopped living. All he did was work. While Cloud was still grieving over Aerith, Vera had to take care of herself. Cook her own food, buy her own clothes, and find others to help her with her homework. It was ridiculous. He had ceased at being a father. She couldn't even remember the last time he and her had a decent conversation. She didn't want to live like this anymore. She wanted to escape…from life. Thunder cracked in the distance. A storm was coming on and it was moving fast. The waves were beginning to roar loudly as they crashed against the sand and rocks. Vera stood up and looked over at a cliff overlooking the small island. She stared at it a moment and made her decision. She was going to kill herself.

Cloud Strife sat in the living room quietly. He glanced at his watch again. 1:11 am. Vera still was not home. Where was she at? This had been the third time she had missed her curfew. He couldn't imagine where the girl could be. At a party, drinking, doing drugs, and the worse one of all…having sex! Oooh, if he found out someone was having sex with his little girl he'd have them castrated before they could say ball-less. It had begun to rain. Cloud got up from the couch and grabbed his coat from the rack and went to go search for Vera. 

Sora and Riku were having a big time, riding the big waves that the thunder storm had conjured. Riku loved storms. It was when Mother Ocean truly unleashed her wrath out on the world and he made the best of it. He and Sora ended up back on the shore again laughing.

"_This is the best storm I've ever seen! Those waves are incredible!" _Sora said.

"_They sure are." _Riku looked up at the dark grey sky and as he did he saw something in the corner of his eye. _"What? Is that… Why is _she _here so late? What's she doing? Oh no!" _Riku leaped into the water.

"_Riku? Riku! Where are you going?" _Sora called.

Vera looked down at the ocean. Her fear of water was starting to overcome this suicide mission she had created and it was so far down. She gulped. _Okay, I may be chicken, but I don't think I want to kill myself anymore. _The waves crashed against the cliff like an angry monster ready to eat her up. _Would killing myself really help anything? Maybe I shouldn't do this. _Vera though reconsidering. Finally Vera gave into her fear. _Fine, I'll kill myself another day in a less scary and painless way. Damn, I sound weak. What was I thinking, jumping off a cliff? _Vera began moving away from the edge, when suddenly a bolt of lighting struck next to her. She screamed and involuntarily jumped back, sending her tumbling off the cliff!

Riku watched in horror as the girl fell off the cliff. By some miracle she missed the rocks that were below. Sora watched the whole thing from the shore. _Oh my god. _He saw Riku dive right when she hit the water. _Riku…_

Drowning! She was drowning again! She knew she had been so stupid, trying to kill herself and chickening out, and look where it had gotten her. The exact place she didn't want to be. She tried with all her might to fight the water, to reach the air that was above, but to no avail. Vera soon grew exhausted and continued to sink into the ocean's depths. Her mind was growing weary. Flashes of her friends and family went through her head. _So, this is really it. I'm going to die. _She saw a shadow moving towards her. Was it death? She reached out towards it before she lost all consciousness.

Riku swam as fast as he could to reach the girl. She was dying…he had to save her! He saw the last few air bubbles escape her mouth. She looked out towards him with glassy eyes and reached out her hand. Did she know he was there? Did she know what he was? It didn't matter. She had blacked out by the time he reached her. He wrapped his arms around her delicate body, being as gentle as possible. His heart gave a leap when he touched her. With a few hard pumps of his tail he broke through the surface. He thought automatically she would wake up, but she didn't and that scared him. The storm was dying out quickly now. Riku moved the girl to the shore and placed her body down on the white sand. Riku lay down beside her, watching her closely. He hesitated then slowly took her hand in his and squeezed it. _Please don't die…please. _He thought desperately. Sora gave his friend some space, staying a little bit in the water. The sun was finally peeking through the grey clouds and the wind was slowing down. Sora said quietly.

"_Is she…dead?"_

Suddenly the girl began to cough. Riku smiled. _"No, she's alright. See she's breathing."_ He leaned down close to her and stroked a finger across her cheek. _"I've never seen a more beautiful creature." _

Sora stared at his friend sadly. He had to tell him what he thought about this. It was the best for Riku…even if it hurt him. _"Riku…" _Sora started, being careful about choosing his words_. "She's human." _Riku looked at him with a hint of anger in his eyes. _"You could never…you know…" _Saying each word hurt Sora, but Riku had to be told the truth. Riku knew the truth, just didn't want to accept it.

After a moment of glaring at Sora, Riku's expression softened, dropping his head down sadly. _"I know." _

The girl groaned and Sora stiffened. _"Riku, she's waking up! Let's get out of here!"_

Riku shook his head. _"I can't. Not until I know she's okay."_

Sora growled and jumped back into the water. He was losing his patience with Riku. If he was going to be a big idiot and get caught by the humans then let him get caught.

Vera opened her eyes. Everything was in a hazy bright light. Had she died? The bright light was blinding and she had to close her eyes again. Her body hurt so badly. Vera felt like she had been knocked around into a bunch of brick walls. She was soaked to the bone and was so cold she began to shiver. She let out a whimper, wishing she could be warm and dry in her bed with the covers wound tightly around her. Then all of a sudden, she felt something lean against her chest. Her body soon felt the transferred heat and she sighed, her shaking lessening.

Riku was so close to her now. He could feel her warm breath; he could hear her heartbeat with his heightened hearing, and he could feel her body shiver. He knew Sora was probably, throwing a fit, but he couldn't let her freeze. Riku continued to watch her every movement, hoping she would truly awaken.

Vera knew she had to try a second time. As much as she didn't want to see the bright light, she had to try and open her eyes again. Her eyes squinted then they fluttered open. The bright light was fading away quickly, and she could vaguely make out a figure beyond it. She blinked again and the haziness cleared to reveal and the most beautiful—no, beautiful wasn't the right word. There was no word even close to describing his radiance—boy, she had ever seen. His long silver hair went down almost to the mid of his back and draped down over his aquamarine eyes. He was faired skinned and his chest was bare, and ripping with muscles. Vera instantly knew this was the thing she had caught sight of earlier. It was this boy.

"You…" She whispered.

An ounce of fear appeared in the young man's eyes and he rose up on his strong arms ready to get up and run away, Vera guessed. A streak of panic welled up inside her and she cried.

"No!" She placed a hand on his cheek. The skin was silky smooth under her fingertips. The boy froze, his head turned to the side. His teal eyes fell upon her again. "Please…don't go…please…stay here. I don't want to…be alone. Don't be afraid."

Riku wished so desperately that he could understand what she was saying. Only a few of his people spoke human. And he could only speak one word in human and that was his name. What was the point in words when thoughts could be exchanged? Why couldn't humans communicate like merpeople did, through their minds? He had no idea what she said, but her voice was so soft and gentle. He gazed into her honey brown eyes. He didn't have to understand her language to know that she was lonely. He gave her a tiny smile and she did the same. Riku moved his body close to hers once more to keep her warm.

Vera truly thought she was dead now. No one this handsome could exist in real life. Was this the angel coming to take her away? He was so handsome…that's all she could think about. She was losing control of herself. Vera moved her hands to each side of his head. His body stiffened a moment then relaxed. He leaned down towards her with curious eyes.

Riku rested his forehead against hers. So close now…so very close. His heart was flopping around in his chest like a fish on land. He breathed in her scent. It was the smell of cherry blossoms. A scent he was unfamiliar with, but loved it all the same. She was so lovely...that's all he could think about. He licked his lips…it was wrong, he knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help himself. Just one touch of her lips on his…..

Sora was just about to die! Everything! Everything the elders had taught Riku were useless compared to the seductiveness of this human girl. Sora, couldn't believe what he was seeing. This was the same guy who had told him so many times to be weary of humans, and now he was practically lying on top of one! When he got back in the water, he was going to give it to him, that's for sure. Sora had his own interest in humans, true, but he wasn't going to get THAT close to one. Sora thought. _What is Riku thinking? Wait a minute…what is he? No way, oh man, no he is not going to…oh my god, he is! I can't believe this!_

Vera saw what the boy was going to do and her heart leaped. Automatically, she tilted her head up. His lips moved closer to hers. What was this magic he held over her? She couldn't explain it. He stopped, inches away from her lips. She gently brushed the back of her hand against his cheek. 

That's all Riku could take. He moved in, unafraid, to take over her lips when…

"Vera?!"

Riku's head shot up. Humans were coming! He glanced down at the girl. She stared at him confused. As much as he didn't want to leave her, he knew he had to. Riku sighed then moved as fast as he could back into the ocean.

That's it for chapter two. Hope you enjoyed. Please review!


	3. Confessions

Cloud ran to his daughter lying on the shore. He had never been so afraid in his life. He couldn't imagine how he could go on without her. Cloud got down by Vera's side and lifted her up. She was mumbling something. Thank God! That meant she was still alive. Cloud spoke to her softly.

"Vera, sweetheart, can you hear me? What are you saying, I can't understand you?" He stared at Vera with worried eyes.

"Come back…please, don't go…come back…"

Cloud hugged his daughter. "I'm not going anywhere. It's all right. I'm here. I'm here. Shh…don't speak. Save your strength. Now, I'm going to pick you up, okay." He hauled Vera up into his arms and headed for home.

A day went by and Vera was stuck in bed staring at her blank ceiling. _I really need to put some glow in the dark star stickers on my ceiling. It's so boring. _She sighed. Cloud had returned Vera home the previous day and placed her in her bed to rest up. When he went to check up on her in the morning he saw that she was coughing and running a fever. So he ordered her to stay in her bed and he took off a day of work so he could take care of her. Vera was kind of happy she was sick. For once, her Dad had stayed home for her. Maybe he did love her. Being confined to her bed, on the other hand, was no fun. She could only stand so much TV and books, and now she was just daydreaming to pass by the hours. Her mind kept on one subject and one subject only. The silver haired boy who had rescued her. She wondered who he was, where he came from. Vera had never seen him on the islands before and she knew she would have remembered him if she did. _He was so radiant_. _That long flowing hair, that baby soft skin, those incredible eyes…he was perfect._ A picture of him formed inside her head as she remembered all his features.

There was a knock on the door breaking Vera's thoughts. "Vera," Cloud said. "Can I come in?"

The image of the boy shattered inside her mind as Cloud interrupted her daydream. "Yeah…" She said disappointed.

Cloud walked in and sat on her bedside. "Hey,"

"Hey,"

"How are you?"

"Not bad. Can I get up now?"

"Let's see…" Cloud placed a hand on her forehead to check her fever. "Hm…nope. You're still hot."

"But Dad!" She whined. "Can I at least get on the computer or something?"

"As restless as ever I see. Even when you're sick. Don't you feel bad?"

Vera covered her mouth and coughed. "Yes, I feel awful, but I don't want to just lay here. I want to get out and do something."

He chuckled. "Are you hungry, yet?"

Vera shook her head. "Not really, but can I get some more cranberry juice?"

He laughed when she said that. "Well, you've drunk enough to pee a river. That's good though. You need those fluids in your system. I'll be right back." Cloud came back with a cup of cranberry juice and helped Vera sit up. "There you go."

"Thanks." Vera took a big swig of the sweet and sour juice.

Cloud watched her thinking. "Vera?"

"Yeah, Dad?" She set her cup on her nightstand.

"What were you doing last night? On the islet. It was way past your curfew and I would like to know what…" He paused for a second afraid to say the rest of the sentence. Vera felt a streak of panic hit her. What could she tell her Dad? Oh, I went out there to kill myself? No way! She knew he would flip and send her to the looney bin. "Say it." He said and Vera sensed a trace of nerves in her father's voice. "I know you're a young woman now…you're curious…about the opposite sex…boys…you can tell me, Vera."

Vera saw what her Dad was aiming at and it made her smile. It was just so funny! "Dad," Vera started.

"Yes?" His eyes were begging for the answer and yet dreading it.

"I wasn't having sex."

Cloud let out a big sigh of relief and his tensed up muscles relaxed. He swiped a hand over his face that had started to sweat. "Oh, thank God. Then, what were you doing? How did you end up in the water?"

Vera thought quickly. She had to make up a decent lie to deceive her Dad. "I was, uh, trying to…" Then an idea struck her. "I was trying to overcome my fear of water!"

"What?"

"Yes, I wanted to overcome my fear of water. It's just been eating me up inside the past few days and I had to do something."

Cloud frowned at her. "So, you decide to go swimming during a thunder storm?"

Vera could see Cloud was getting angry. "Um, I like to challenge myself?"

"Vera, what were you thinking?!" Cloud got up from off the bed and stood in the doorway. _Here comes the lecture. _Vera thought. "You could have died out there? You could have just thrown away your entire life."

_And I was trying to at first ironically, but I changed my mind. _She thought.

"I know Dad and I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Really."

"You're right." Cloud shook a finger at her. "It won't happen again. Because I'm going to…I'm going to…" Cloud couldn't think of a punishment to give Vera.

Vera frowned at him confused. "Uh, ground me?"

"Yes!" Cloud said. "That's an excellent idea. You're grounded."

Vera sighed. "Okay, I can live with that."

"For a month."

"What?!"

"That's right. A month."

"But, Dad! Please! Not a month!" Vera protested.

"Vera, you have surpassed your curfew 3 times and put your life in danger, this cannot go unpunished. So, you are grounded for a month. Do you hear me? You go to school, you come home from school, you do your homework, you go to bed and it starts all over again."

"No!" Vera whined. "Please, just for a week. Ground me for a week I can handle that, but I can't handle a month."

"Maybe next time when you think about missing your curfew you'll remember this. Now, don't get rallied up at me. You need your rest. Call me if you need anything." Cloud shut the door.

"Grr!" Vera threw her pillow at the door and laid back down with her arms crossed pouting.

Riku and Sora rested at their favorite spot on the islet, sun bathing amongst the rocks. Sora noticed that Riku was in a really good mood ever since the night of the storm. He was humming and acting really weird. Sora didn't like it. He was acting way too happy.

Sora was playing with a little tropical fish by the reef as he lounged on a rock. He chased it around with his fingers until he had it cornered. He licked his lips as he picked it up by the tail.

"_Oh yes, you'll make a fine little snack, my friend." _He snickered as he lifted the fish up to his open mouth. "Ahh…"

"_Wow!"_

Riku exclaimed startling Sora. He dropped the fish and it flopped back into the water. It kicked up its fins and swam away out into the ocean blue. Sora gave Riku a sour look, but he didn't notice. His attention was on something else. It was an orange flower.

"_Isn't it lovely?"_

"_Yeah. Almost as lovely as that fish I was about to eat…"_

Riku didn't seem to notice the sarcasm in Sora's voice and began humming softly to himself. Sora watched him disgusted. Riku began plucking off the flower's petals as he whispered to himself.

"_She loves me….she loves me not….she loves me…she loves me not…"_

"_Riku, you're killing me."_

Riku looked up and smiled at him. _"How so my friend?" _He picked the last petal off the flower and sighed. _"She loves me! Yes!" _He kissed the petal and started giggling. 

"_The way you're acting! You're acting all weird. What is wrong with you?!"_

"_Oh, silly Sora." _Riku rolled over on his stomach. _"Isn't it obvious?"_

Sora rubbed his head. _"You're sick?"_

"_Something like that."_ He chuckled.

Sora thought again then gasped. Of course! The flower, the way Riku was acting, the humming, it all made sense to him now. Riku was… _"No. Riku, no." _

"_Yes, Sora. Yes."_ Riku stared affectionately at the petal he held between his fingers. _"I think…I think I'm love." _

"_What do you mean you think you're in love?! You mean, w-with that h-human?"_He stuttered.

Riku sighed. _"I miss her. I wonder when she'll be coming back." _He looked towards the horizon where the main islands lay. _"I wonder if she remembers me? Maybe she's thinking about me right now." _He began humming to himself again then suddenly stopped. _"But I know even if she did come back, I wouldn't have a chance her. Because…because I'm a…" _He lifted up his silver and black tail staring at it for a moment before he growled splashing it against the water.

Sora's eyes watched his extremely happy friend fall into the pits of depression. He needed to do something to distract Riku from thinking about the human girl so he wouldn't be so bummed. Sora moved over to the rock Riku was resting on and laid beside him. Riku was looking down at the water sadly. Sora got an idea and elbowed him playfully.

"_Hey, are you hungry?" _Riku didn't say anything. _"Let's go hunting, it'll be fun! I bet I can catch more fish than you this time. C'mon Riku, you love a challenge."_

"_Sora…" _

"_You know I caught sight of some blue spotted butterfly fish on our way here."_

Riku's head perked up a little. _"Blue spotted butterfly fish?"_

_I got him hooked now I just got to reel him in. _Sora thought positively. _"Yeah, a whole bunch of them. Nice and yellow with light blue spots. Just the way you like them."_

"_I do like blue spotted butterfly fish." _Riku smiled.

"_Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get those blue spotted butterfly fish!" _

"_Yeah!"_

"_Yeah!" _

So, Sora and Riku went deep into the sea to go hunting. Sora was glad that they actually did find some blue spotted butterfly fish because he was fibbing that he had seen some to get Riku to come. Sora tried his best to catch the most fish, but Riku bested him by far. He was jealous of Riku, though he would never admit it. He knew one day he'd beat Riku at something. When they had finished Riku and Sora settled themselves at the sea bottom and sighed.

"_I'm miserable." _Sora said. _"I've eaten more fish than I can count. I'm never eating that much again."_

"_That's what you said last time."_

"_I blame you." _He joked and they both laughed.

"_Hey, Sora, ready to head back, yet or are you still hungry?"_

"_No! I've had my fill. I'm ready. Maybe I'll shed off some of these pounds."_

Sora and Riku started swimming their way back to the islet. They had swum out almost three miles with ease and they took their time getting back. Riku kept alert, watching, listening, deploying his sonar now and then, but everything was fine. That is until his sonar hit something strange. Riku stopped and placed an arm out to halt Sora.

"_Riku, what is it?"_

"_Did you catch that?"_

"_Huh? Catch what?"_

Riku rubbed his temples. _He really does suck at using his echo location. _He thought.

"_I picked something up on my sonar."_

Sora raised his eyebrows. _"What is it?"_

Riku shook his head. _"I don't know. It's big and bulky. That's all I could comprehend. I'm not close enough to give you a good description, but whatever it is I don't like it. Use your sonar or can you use it?"_

Sora frowned at him. _"I can use it fine." _Sora pursed his lips like he was going to whistle, but instead let out a low frequency sound that only he and Riku could hear. The sound waves bounced off a rock and came back to him. _"I hit a rock. See? I can use my sonar just fine." _

"_All right, stay close on my tail. We don't know what's out there. It could be dangerous." _

"_I'm behind you all the way." _

The young mermen treaded carefully through the tense waters deploying their sonar when they saw fit. Riku hit the strange object again and this time he could identify it. They were less than half a mile away from it and something was closing in from all around them.

"_Ship!" _Riku whispered barely in his thoughts to Sora.

"_Think louder Riku. I didn't hear you." _

"_SHIP!!!"_

"_OUCH! That was way too loud!" _

"_Sorry." _

"_A Ship? What kind?"_

"_One that floats." _

"_Okay now you're just being sarcastic which means you're nervous."_

"_I'm not—"_ Riku exhaled deeply making a flurry of bubbles. _"Sora something is wrong. I can feel it. I didn't just pick up a ship there was something else too."_

Riku saw an ounce of fear make itself clear in Sora's ocean blue eyes. _"Huh?"_

"_There's a net."_

Sora sighed in relief, but there was nothing to be relieved about. _"That's it? Well we can just swim around it."_

Riku glanced down then back up at Sora. Sora didn't like the look Riku was giving him. _"Sora,"_

"_Y-yeah?" _He stuttered.

"_We're slowly being surrounded by a drift net."_

"_No,"_ Sora bit his lip. _"I've heard all the stories. What they say about those nets. They say these nets can stretch for miles…"_

"_This one is anchored to a boat and it looks like they're either setting it out or reeling it in. I think I can get us out of here though. Just don't wander off."_

"_Okay."_

Sora followed Riku being very careful. He couldn't see the net, but as they neared their escape he could see it. They could get by it barely.

"_There's the exit." _Riku said.

"_That little gap? We can't fit through there."_

"_Yes we can." _He patted Sora on the back. _"Just suck your gut in you'll be fine. You first."_

"_And after eating all those fish."_ Sora said miserable.

Sora swam cautiously up to the gap and squeezed himself through without touching the net. Riku tried next and got through successfully. They swam quietly under the boat to the other side. Sora looked out towards the open water and cheered.

"_All right! We did it! Now let's get out of here!"_

"_Right." _

Sora was swimming eagerly towards their destination when Riku felt a disturbance. He looked up and deployed his sonar. He gasped and looked out towards Sora and of course he wasn't paying attention. It was too late. He wouldn't make it. Unless…

"_Sora!"_

Riku moved like a bullet through the water and rammed right into Sora. He was pushed through the water and out of the way of the fishing net that had just fallen. Sora twisted and turned in the water and because Riku had knocked into him so hard, he was down for the count. Riku tried to dodge the net after he had rescued Sora, but it settled around him right when he pushed him to safety. He kicked his tail as hard as he could only to entangle himself even more. Riku struggled against the net violently, hitting it, biting it, and scratching it, but it just made things worse. Finally, out of sheer exhaustion, Riku gave up.

Sora shook himself awake. _"Ugh…what was that for Riku? Riku?" _Sora looked over his shoulder to see Riku lying in a deadly net. _"Riku!"_

Riku felt so tired now. He just wanted to go to sleep. He wanted to die. It was better than being captured. Sora was coming towards him. He pushed his free hand through the net reaching out towards Sora.

"_Sora, get out of here!" _

"_Riku, no!" _Sora grabbed a hold of the net and began pulling on it, but as strong as he was it was no use against the might of the net.

Riku sighed resting his head down. All his hope lost. _"It's no use, Sora. It's over for me." _

"_Don't say that! I can get you out. Just hold on." _

Sora and Riku felt something tug. They were pulling the net back up to the boat. Riku's heart was pounding against his chest.

"_Go now before they get you too!" _

"_I'm not leaving you here to be turned into a can of tuna!" _Sora strained as hard as he could against the net, but to no avail.

"_Sora, please…leave me. Save yourself."_

"_But, Riku…"_ Sora tried one more time, but like before, he was unable to break the net. The net was being pulled up closer to the surface dragging Riku along with it. Sora started crying as he pulled against the net.

"_Riku, you have to get out. You're not even trying!" _He shouted angrily. _"You have to try!"_

"_I did Sora. I'm too tired now. I gave it my best."_

"_No, no, no, no! You have to win Riku. You never lose. You never get tired. Try again!" _Sora begged.

Riku wiggled around a little, but it was no use. _"Sora, I can't…"_

"_Riku, please!" _Sora's hands were gripped around the net. _"Please get up!"_

"_I'm sorry, Sora. I guess this is goodbye."_

"_No, not goodbye. Riku, you're my big brother. I need you." _Sora whimpered looking down at the sea bottom. _"You'll always be my big brother, Riku. I can't believe this is really happening."_

Riku smiled and ruffled Sora's spiky hair with his free hand. _"And you'll always be my little brother." _The net was given another big yank as the net was hoisted closer towards the surface. Riku looked at Sora. _"Time to go. Goodbye Sora."_

Sora let go of the net with a broken heart. _"Goodbye, Riku." _

Once Riku's body felt the cool air above, he was overwhelmed by fear and exhaustion and blacked out.


	4. Prisoner

Cloud was startled out of his sleep when the phone rang. He glanced over at the clock. It was almost 3:00 in the morning. Cloud cursed as he turned on his lamp on the night stand and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Strife,"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Xehanort, it is 2: 57 am."

"I understand that Mr. Strife, but this is of the utmost importance. I require your presence at the marina as soon as possible."

"The marina? Why… Sir, can this wait until morning?"

Xehanort kept a calm air the whole time. "I'm sorry, but I need your assistance now. You're the only other employ I can trust with this information."

Cloud ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Information?"

"Do you believe in fairytales, Mr. Strife?"

Cloud didn't say anything for a moment, because he was confused why his boss would shoot out a question like this from out of the blue. "Is this relevant, sir?" He said slowly.

"More than you know."

Cloud had no idea what was going on, but now that he was fully awake he was curious to find out. "Can you explain to me what is going on?"

There was a short pause at the other end of the line. "Some things cannot be explained Mr. Strife. Some things you must see to believe. If I told you what we have discovered, you would slam this phone down right now."

"We? Who's we?"

"Demyx and I. We've made a bargain with some fishermen and munny has been exchanged. I gave them an extra bonus as well just to make sure they keep their mouths shut to the press. Although it was only a precaution. They know my ties and they would not dare to double cross me."

Cloud was getting frustrated. "Munny? Press? Fishermen? What is it, sir?"

"Like I said. Meet me at the Marina, you'll see my truck. I'll be waiting there." Xehanort hung up the phone leaving Cloud utterly lost.

Vera had woken up when the phone rang. She was too lazy to get out of bed answer it though. She figured that her father would get it. The ringing stopped and she tried to go back to sleep. A few minutes later she heard her Dad's bedroom door creak open. She got up out of the bed, curious to see where he was going. She walked into the living room where Cloud was putting his coat on.

"Dad?"

Cloud jumped and turned around. "Oh, Vera, it's only you. Did I wake you?"

She shook her head. "No, the phone did. Where you going?"

"The marina, Xehanort has a job for me apparently. I don't know when I'll be back. Just go back to sleep."

She nodded. "Okay, be careful."

As Vera walked back into her bedroom she couldn't help but wonder why her father's boss would call in the middle of the night to assign a job. Was it so important that it couldn't wait till morning? Vera rolled back into her bed and pulled the covers up.

_That Xehanort is an odd one, he is. He has some nerve to call on Dad in the dead of night. What a jerk. _

And with that last thought Vera fell sound asleep.

Vera's little flu had passed by the time she woke up. She felt a great deal better. The sun was peeking through her French doors to her balcony and shining on her face. She threw the covers off and got up out of bed glad that it was finally the weekend. Vera slipped on a pair of house shoes and made her way to the kitchen, but something was different. Cloud was not sitting at the table drinking his morning coffee.

_He's still not back? That's strange. He never misses breakfast. Is he still at work?_

As Vera pondered she caught sight of a note on the refrigerator door. She pulled it away from the paopu fruit magnet and examined it. In her father's hand writing was a message.

_Dear Vera, _

_I dropped by earlier this morning for a bite to eat and thought I would leave you this note so you wouldn't worry. Xehanort and I are working on a very important project and I must stay at the aquarium. I'll be home very late tonight and maybe the next. I may be late coming home for a while. I've left some money for you on the table in case you want to order a pizza or Chinese takeout or whatever you like. Don't worry, everything is all right and yes, I can handle all this work. So please don't fret about this. _

_Your Dad,_

_Cloud_

_P.S_

_Remember, you're still grounded. That means you stay at home. I'll know if you're sneaking out. I've got my sources. _

Vera crumpled the letter up and threw it in the garbage. "Of course he'd never forget that I'm grounded, but he forgets everything else about me. Like, I don't like Chinese food. What kind of project is he working on anyways? He's done enough to write a book on every marine creature in the world. What more can he work on?"

Vera looked longingly towards the front door. She wanted to leave, but she was grounded, but he would never know that she had left. He said he had sources, but Vera knew he had to be bluffing, right? She thought about it a little longer then decided she should keep it parked at home just in case he did have someone watching her. Better to be safe than sorry. Vera walked back into her room and outside onto her balcony overlooking the ocean. She leaned against the rail, propping her chin up on her hands and sighed. Every time she looked out at the ocean the image of the silver haired boy came waltzing back into her mind. She could remember his teal eyes so vividly. She began to question her sanity. Had he really been there or was it just her imagination? But she had touched him, that smooth skin beneath her fingertips. That had to be real. If it wasn't then she was just plain ole insane. She wanted to see him again. She wanted to go out and search for him, but as long as she was on her Dad's house arrest, she was going nowhere.

"I don't even know his name. Where would I even start to look?" She sighed watching the ocean waves crash against the shore. Then she spoke out loud to the sea. "I know that you're out there. Somewhere, I'll find you. I know I will. I'm not going to just forget about you. You saved my life and I never got a chance to thank you. I want to thank you face to face."

* * * * *

Riku lay with his eyes closed slowly regaining consciousness. He was in a dream like state and couldn't remember what had happened or what was going on. The first thing he noticed was that the water felt weird. It was salty, but not like the ocean. He couldn't explain it. The water did not feel right at all. The temperature wasn't exactly the way the ocean should be either. That was very strange. The only reason the ocean's temperature would change like this was if an El Niño was on, but surely it couldn't be. They only came around on certain dates and were very predictable. He would have sensed it before he had even started the journey. No, something else was wrong. Riku arched his back against the bottom groaning and tried to dig his fingers through the sand, but he touched no sand. Instead he touched rock. This rock was unfamiliar to him. It was coarse and yet it wasn't, so he knew it couldn't be a coral of any type. What the heck was going on? He opened his mind and called out to Sora. Maybe he knew why everything had suddenly turned funky.

"_Sora…" _He called out with his mind, but found it hard to concentrate his thoughts. Riku received no answer from Sora. _"Sora, what's going on?"_ Still no answer. Finally, Riku opened his eyes and swam up a little. His body felt heavy. _Why do I feel so tired and weak?_ He thought. Riku looked around and his heart began to beat faster with every sight he took in. This wasn't the ocean. In all directions he could see human objects and things scattered around everywhere and yet he couldn't remember how he had got there. Panicking, Riku called out with his mind again.

"_Sora! Answer me!" _

The waters remained silent. It was through the silence that he began to recall everything that had happened. The girl he had rescued, his giddiness and depression afterwards, all the fish that he and Sora had caught hunting, the big net they had to avoid, the net that almost got Sora, the same net that had caught him…Riku began shaking his head as he took in his surroundings. _No, oh please no. _He thought. He had to escape! He had to get out of this human room and get back into the ocean where he belonged. Riku wasn't feeling his best so his swimming wasn't very fast, but he swam as fast as he could. He swam forward and smacked right into an invisible barrier. Shocked, he moved his hands all over it. The surface was fine and slick. He pounded a fist against it, but it didn't give way. He decided to try somewhere else. He swam to the left, back, and right and got the same results. It was like he was in some kind of large box. Confused he swam back up to the front glass. He braced his hands against it and pushed, but it still did not give way. It had to be broken somehow. He moved back a little and beat his powerful tail against it. That didn't work either. Riku placed his hands on the glass again. He was truly in a panic now. There was no escape. He was trapped. Riku began beating on the glass wildly, trying anything he could to break the invisible barrier, but no matter how hard he tried the glass would not budge.

_No! Move! Move! You have to move! I've got to get out! I've got to find Sora! I don't belong here! _Then with each pound of his fist he thought. _I…have…to…get…back…home!_

Finally, Riku was too tired to fight anymore. He sank down to the bottom of the tank with a hand still pressed up against the glass. His freedom was so close yet so far away. Nothing but this glass held him back and he could not defeat it. The splashing of the water above settled down once he had given up and filled the tank with that dreadful silence once more. The silence only reminded him that he was completely and utterly alone.

_Alone…I'm alone._

Riku leaned his head on the glass and shut his eyes tightly trying to contain himself, but he couldn't. It was too much for his heart to bear. He was a hostage. A prisoner…

Two men watched the young merman's reaction to its new environment. His reaction was predictable.

"It's awake." Cloud said gazing at it with amazement. "I still…can't believe it. A real merman. To think I thought they didn't exist."

"Well of course it is." Xeharnort said folding his hands behind his back looking at the merman proudly like he had caught a trophy fish. "The sedation doesn't last forever, you know. Even if it is triple the human dose."

"I'm surprised it couldn't break through the glass. You said merpeople had great strength."

Xeharnort nodded. "They do, but the serum I gave him earlier weakens his body and senses. Otherwise we'd be up to our necks in water."

Cloud watched the little merman with sympathy. It looked no older than his daughter. It was just a teenage boy from the looks of it. He couldn't imagine what it was feeling. Pain, fear, confusion, loneliness.

"I think it's upset, sir. It must be stressed from this sudden change." Cloud said softly.

"It's to be expected. All animals stress when they are first placed into confinement, but they grow use to it overtime. This merman will have to do the same."

"And if he doesn't?"

Xeharnort grunted getting annoyed by Cloud's question. "Then that's his problem." Xeharnort turned and walked out of the room that held the isolated tank.

Cloud walked up to the glass and studied it. The merman glanced up at him. They made eye contact then the young merman turned its head away. "I'm sorry." Cloud whispered then he followed Xeharnort out.

* * * * * *

Two days passed by and throughout those two days Vera did not catch sight of her father, not even once. He left little notes saying he had come home real late and he didn't want to wake her. Even though Cloud's letters said not to worry she did exactly the opposite. Two days and not a sign of him was not normal. Vera went to school on Monday even with her father still absent. She could have skipped and he never would have known, but she really wanted to get out of the house. Vera told Kairi and Selphie about her concerns at lunch.

"Working late?" Kairi said raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that pretty normal for him?"

"Never this late. We're talking about until 2:00 to 3:00 in the morning. I haven't seen him for two days! That's not normal even for him."

"You said he had a project he's working on. Know what it is?"

Vera shook her head. "Not a clue, but I'm gonna find out today. I'm going to the aquarium."

"But you're grounded." Selphie said. "Won't you get in trouble?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I want to know what he's up to."

"Do you think it could be a woman?" Kairi asked.

"Or a man…?" Selphie said slowly.

"Selphie!" Vera snapped.

"I'm just kidding, Vera. We know you're Dad's not like that. At least we think so."

"Selphie…shut up."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Yes, Selphie please. Anyways, you think the whole 'project' thing is just a front."

Vera stared down at her lunch. She had brought some peanut butter and apple sticks from home but she wasn't in the mood to eat them. "No. He'd tell me about something like that. Besides, he loved Mom too much. If he dated another woman he would feel like he was betraying her."

"So you're going to go into the aquarium and sort things out. Maybe this will be good for you two. A way for you and your Dad to communicate, you know." Kairi said. "You want me to tag along?"

"Nah, that's okay. I'd really rather talk to him alone. But thanks for the offer." Vera took one of her apple sticks and was going to nibble on it, but ended up only staring at it. "You know, I haven't been to the aquarium since I was ten years old. Strange, huh? Then again, I really don't like to be in rooms surrounded by water."

Suddenly a tray plopped down beside of Vera and startled her. She looked up to glare at a boy with golden blonde spiky hair and wearing the boy's school uniform. It was her cousin.

"Jeez, Roxas! You gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry…" He said sitting down quietly as he eyed Kairi and Selphie shyly. "Seifer's trying to beat me up again. Thought I'd say goodbye."

Vera sighed rolling her eyes. "Roxas don't be such a wimp. Kick the shit out of the bastard."

Roxas growled at her. "The last time I took your advice he kicked the shit out of ME, remember?" He picked up his fork. "So I don't think so." He began stuffing his mouth to avoid conversation.

Vera and the others just watched him. Roxas looked up and swallowed the rest of his macaroni. The silence had suddenly made him uncomfortable. "Um…" He tried to find something to talk about. "So what's up?"

"Vera was telling us about her Dad coming home late." Kairi said.

"Hasn't seen him in two days." Selphie finished.

"So what are you going to do about it?" He asked.

"I'm going to go talk to him." Vera said. "And would you kindly wipe your mouth? You're disgusting!"

"Sorry…" He said blushing. "Want me to come? I can help."

"Roxas you have a fight with Seifer and this time you are going to win. So, no I don't want you to come. You just prepare yourself for the fight, okay?"

"No, I've made my decision. I'm running."

Vera scoffed. "You can't runaway from a fight, you coward."

"You're right I am a coward. A coward that's going to be alive tomorrow."

"You won't be if I get to you first."

"Vera, please…" Roxas whined. "You made me go through this last time."

Vera sighed shaking her head at her cousin. All she was trying to do was build up his confidence and self esteem. He was so shy, cute, and nice, but he couldn't relax with Seifer always picking on him. He had to learn to be assertive…or aggressive. She knew she couldn't fight his battles. That would only make things worse. Kairi barged in on the conversation and gave Roxas some advice of her own.

"Look, Roxas, why don't you just try to talk to Seifer?"

"Talk to him?" He laughed. "How the hell am I going to do that with him punching my face in?"

"Tell him how he makes you feel and how you don't appreciate the way he treats you. But don't use blaming words. Just talk about how YOU feel. He'll listen."

Vera stared at Kairi clearly disgusted. She had never wanted to hit her so badly in her entire life. Roxas raised his eyebrows. "You really think so?"

"Trust me this will make everything better. I know! I'll write it down for you." Kairi got out some pen and paper and scribbled down something. "There. That should help you out."

Roxas took the note and thought it over for a moment. "Okay…maybe I'll try it."

"Good!" Kairi smiled. "I'm glad when boys can avoid their silly little fights."

Vera rested her elbows on the table. "Oh, I've gotta see this. It'll be hilarious." Roxas turned and gave her a dirty look. "I mean—I'm behind you all the way, you little trooper!" She patted him on the back.

"What time is the fight?" Selphie asked.

"After school. 3:35 exactly or I'll get punched even harder if I'm late."

"All right." Vera said re thinking her plans. "I'll come and support you, but then I've got to go see Dad. Something weird is going on over there. I know it."


	5. Curiosity

Vera had Roxas's arm around her shoulder as she helped him limp down the sandy path to his house. Vera grimaced every time Roxas took a step because he would go…

"Ow…ow…ow. Ow! You just stepped on my foot!" He cried.

"Sorry!" Vera said.

Roxas had taken Kairi's advice by talking to Seifer so they could work things out. It didn't go over well. Roxas ended up getting the snot beat out of him. Vera knew it wasn't her fight, but she cut in anyways and stopped it before it got any worse. Roxas received one black eye, a bloody nose, a sore gut, and a swollen jaw. Vera had offered to walk Roxas home and they were already half way to his house.

"I'm sorry if I got in the way or anything, but I couldn't just let Seifer beat the crap out of you like that." Vera said. "I hope you're not mad at me."

Roxas tried to straighten up but found that he couldn't. "Ouch… no really it's okay. I don't get upset over stupid stuff like that. If you hadn't helped me, I'd be worse than I am now. You did what you had to do. I'm glad you were there for me. Nobody else would have stuck up for me like that."

Vera smiled a little. "Anytime,"

Roxas chuckled. "It's not like I have much pride to protect anyways—"

"That is not true!" Vera snapped.

"Or respect."

Roxas's arm was slipping off of Vera's shoulder and she had to hoist him back up. "Well, I respect you and I think you have loads of pride."

He smiled. "Thanks, but you're my cousin. You're supposed to say things like that."

Vera rolled her eyes getting severely aggravated. "Do you want me to say you're a weenie? Because trust me I can."

Roxas decided to keep his trap shut after that. They walked the rest of the way in silence and didn't speak again until they had reached Roxas's front door.

"Do you need help with anything else?" Vera asked.

Roxas shook his head. "I can fix myself. Thanks." He rubbed his head and groaned. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"See you around, then." Vera said beginning to walk off, but stopped when she heard Roxas call to her.

"And Vera," She turned back to him. "Thanks for helping me out today. If you ever need anything, anything at all; just call me and I'll be there no matter what. All right?"

Vera smiled at him. "Okay. Hope you feel better."

Roxas grimaced rubbing his jaw. "See ya and thanks again."

Vera was going to head for the aquarium, but then she realized how late it was getting. She had had to go far out of her way to walk Roxas home. From his house the aquarium was twenty minutes away and it was already almost five. They would be closed and she couldn't think of any other way to get in except through the front door. She sighed.

"I guess I'll have to go first thing after school tomorrow."

****

Riku couldn't move. His body was completely lifeless. No matter how hard he tried his body would not move. He wanted to kick his tail and fling out his arms, but nothing happened. He was feeling very sleepy and his vision was blurry. He couldn't really recall what had happened. One minute he was sitting in his corner of the tank trying to stay as far as he could out of the humans sight then the next he was laying on a cold metal table! There were figures around him, but they only appeared as blurs to him. Something (fingers?) wrenched one of his eyes wide open and a bright light appeared in the corner of his vision.

"His pupils are dilated." Demyx said. "I guess that means the sedative is working."

Cloud stood beside of Demyx. "What do you need?"

Demyx sighed. "Well, I'll need my gloves." Cloud walked to the other side of the room and pulled out some gloves and handed them to Demyx. "Thank you." He began to slip the gloves on then stopped. He looked up at Cloud. "Do you think he's allergic to latex?"

"I doubt it."

"Yeah, but what if he is? I mean, I don't want to give him a rash. Xehanort would kill me! His skin would just—"

"Demyx," Cloud said slightly agitated.

"Oh right! Sorry." Demyx chuckled. "Can you get my blood work kit out of the cabinet?" Demyx took something out of his lab coat. "Here's the key. I keep that kind of stuff locked up so no one comes poking around to steal it. You'd be surprised what freaks would actually come into an aquarium to steal drugs. I mean it's crazy! That stuff is for animals…" And he went on and on and on.

Cloud rolled his eyes behind Demyx's back. Sure, he was a nice guy who never hesitated to help him out, but he could get very annoying at times. He took the key and unlocked the cabinet. He took out the blood kit and sat it on the table beside Demyx. Demyx took an alcohol pad and said to Cloud.

"Should I use disinfectant? He's a mermaid—er, merman and I didn't study them in collage."

"You're the animal technician, you tell me."

"Can't you do it?" Demyx whined.

"Xehanort ordered you to do it. I'm just here to assist and observe."

Demyx sighed and murmured to himself. "They really picked the wrong guy for this."

Riku couldn't understand a single word the humans said. Damn, he wished he could speak human. He had always been curious about them and yet he never stopped to try and learn their language. Then again, there were only a handful of his kind who could and they were none too keen to teach. Riku felt something really tight tie around his upper arm then the human started smacking their fingers on the inside of his elbow. He wondered if they were trying to hurt him and he really wanted to tell them they weren't succeeding. Then he felt something pierce his arm and he gasped.

"Just relax, buddy. It'll be over real quick." Demyx said.

It didn't really hurt that bad at first, but the pain became worse and he started to feel light headed and cold. He wanted to sit up and yank that thing out of his arm, but he couldn't move at all. Demyx filled the last test tube and removed the syringe.

"There. Now that wasn't so bad, now was it?"

The door opened and Xehanort walked into the room. "How is your progress?"

"Pretty good." Demyx said. "Got the blood work done."

"Good. Very good. I'll take it from here."

"Sir?" Cloud said noticing something in his boss's hand. "What's that?"

Xehanort lifted it up so Demyx and Cloud could see it better. "This here is a device that I'm going to place on the subject's arm."

"What will it do?" Demyx asked.

"What I'm hoping it will do is break him."

"Break him?" Cloud frowned. "What do you mean by 'break him'?"

"So that he can be handled better, of course. You two had a time getting him in here, didn't you? Took you several tries to actually find him in the tank, didn't it?" Demyx and Cloud shared a grimace. "Well, this will fix the problem. Every time he doesn't obey this device will send an electric current through his entire body. Painful, yes, but he'll get the picture."

Cloud didn't like this idea. From experience he knew his boss was a control freak. "He's not some animal you can tame, Xehanort!"

Xehanort snorted. "He will if I want him to be."

"Uh, technically he is half animal. Considering he's got a dolphin tail." Demyx said.

Cloud shot him a glare and turned back to Xehanort. "It won't stay on. He'll rip it off the first time you buzz him."

Xehanort chuckled. "Ah, Mr. Strife. You underestimate me. I've already consulted with that issue. You see, it is motion sensitive. If he tries to take it off it will shock him."

"Do you really think that would stop him?" Cloud said trying to keep his voice calm.

Xehanort nodded. "I'm sure he will try to take it off there's no doubt about it. But, trust me, when he learns the consequences of trying to remove it, he'll stop. If he tries to remove the device it'll shock him for a good thirty seconds. Enough so that his muscles will lock up and he won't be able to move. He'll see that thirty seconds of a constant electric current isn't fun. Especially underwater. Any more questions, Mr. Strife? Perhaps we could talk about your career?"

Cloud knew what that meant. He was threatening his job and he couldn't lose his job. He had Vera to take care of and cared for her more than he did the merman. He would have to let this issue drop and let Xehanort do what he wanted. Cloud lowered his gaze.

"No, sir."

"Yes, that's what I thought." Xehanort said. "Demyx, go and start the blood test and give me the results once you are finished."

"Yes, sir." Demyx took the blood he had collected and exited the room.

Xehanort grinned at Cloud. "I would like you to assist me, Mr. Strife." Cloud nodded grimly.

Riku's eyes widened as he saw the figures move closer to him…

*****

The next day, Vera walked into the school's courtyard and waved goodbye to Kairi and Selphie. Sadly, Roxas had stayed at home to avoid humiliation from the previous day. Seifer had been showing around his victory picture to everyone. _I'll have to call him later._ She thought. Vera set her sights on the aquarium. This was the third day, and Cloud had still not come home so now she was determined to talk to him. She couldn't help but worry about him as much as she didn't want to. After all, he ignored her half the time shouldn't she give him the same medicine? _No, _Vera thought. _I'm not like him. Not like him at all. _Vera made it to the center of town and took the path towards her destination. Within a few minutes she caught sight of the big blue building. She maneuvered her way around some tourists and entered through the glass doors. She made her way to the ticket desk where a woman with brown hair was sitting. The woman recognized her immediately.

"Vera, is that you?" Tifa asked.

Vera faked a smile. She had never really liked Tifa, because when her dad was around she was all over him and he clearly wasn't interested. "Yeah, it's me."

"Wow, you're growing like a weed, aren't you?"

She shrugged. "That's what growing up is about I suppose."

"I haven't seen you here since that incident several years ago." Tifa said sadly.

Vera eyed her surroundings nervously. Huge glass walls holding back gallons upon gallons of water. Nothing but the glass between her and possibly death if it ever broke. "I don't like water much." Vera said shortly. "I need to see my dad. Is he in?"

Tifa shook her head. "No, he just left a little while ago."

Vera slumped. "You're kidding. I walked all the way up here for nothing?"

"Oh, he said he'd be right back. I think he went to go check up on you."

"Great…"

"Hey, I know, why don't I give him a call? I'm sure he'd be glad to see you up here."

"No, that's okay. You said he'd be back right?" Tifa nodded. "Well, I'll just wait in his office then."

"It was nice seeing you again, Vera."

"You too." Vera lied.

Vera made her way through the aquarium, recalling all the sights from her childhood memories. There were the penguins, the dolphins, the sea lions, and then her favorite was the sea otters. She watched the cute little otters play around and float on their backs in their enclosure for a while before moving on. She made her way through a few more areas before finally finding her dad's office door. She opened the door and sat down in her dad's computer chair. Vera sat slightly turning the chair from side to side as she examined the room. In the few years she had been absent from the place, it hadn't changed much. Her dad's office was still a mess and all the knick knacks and trinkets he had kept over the years were all in their same places. Vera sighed and relaxed her head against the chair. She waited a long time and she started to grow bored. The longer she waited the more annoyed she became.

"Screw it!" She almost flipped the chair over when she got up, but saved it at the last second.

Vera walked back out of her dad's office. She decided there was no point in leaving the aquarium all together, because supposedly her dad would be returning so she figured she would explore, maybe even snoop around a bit to entertain herself. She turned down a corridor she had never gone through before. Vera saw that this part of the aquarium seemed different from the rest. There were doors lined nicely on each side of the hallway. Vera tried to open one, but it was locked.

_Must be a new addition to the building. I think I remember Dad saying something about them adding on to this place. Looks like this area is just for employees otherwise I think I would see more fish._

Vera was ready to turn around and go back when she saw that there was a door near the end of the hall slightly ajar.

_Huh. Wonder what's in there. I probably shouldn't…_

But Vera had to quench her curiosity. Carefully, she poked her head through the door and as she did so it made a loud squeak.

******

Riku tried once more to remove the object from his arm, but as he went to touch it that terrible sensation surged through his body again. He froze up and couldn't move from what seemed like an eternity. Finally, when it released him he sunk to the floor.

_It's no use. No matter what I do it won't come off. _

He rested for moment still feeling the sting of the electric shock then decided he needed to feel the cool air above. It was his first time breaking through the surface (of his own free will) of the tank and he had to admit for a moment he had forgotten he was in confinement. Above him was a translucent sun roof letting the heat from outside fill into the room. There was a small rock looking formation, but of course it wasn't real. Riku pressed his hand against it and felt that same strange unfamiliar rock. Concrete. It was a nice area perfect for stretching out on. The after effects of the shock were still causing his muscles to slightly contract. Perhaps if he got out of the water entirely he would feel better. Riku glanced out through the glass. There wasn't a human in sight, but he was still weary of getting out of the water. What if they jumped out and started to attack them with their shockers and needles to try and suck out his blood? He clenched his teeth as another pain went through his body. He looked back at the glass then at the rock. The stinging pain was beginning to drive him crazy.

_Just for a little bit. _He decided.

Riku pushed himself up onto the rock and out of the water. He situated himself on his side and sighed. Automatically the stinging ceased. The rock was nice and warm just like the one's he and Sora used to rest on. He missed Sora and all his other friends he had in the ocean.

_I'll never see any of them again…ever. I wonder what Sora is doing right now? I wonder if he went back home or if he's still on the islet. I hope that he's okay. What if he gets himself into trouble? He can't use his sonar very well. A predator could sneak up right behind him and—no, I can't think like that. Sora can take care of himself. _Riku let his body relax. _He'll be fine. He'll be fine…_ He reassured himself.

The longer Riku lay there the better it felt. His eyelids began to droop and he was about to fall asleep when all of a sudden he heard something squeak. Riku's head jerked up. He knew what that meant. The humans were coming back. He pushed himself back into the water.

As Vera's head poked through the door she heard a splash. She looked around. There was a large enclosure inside the sun roofed room and after hearing that splash she knew some kind of animal was in it and she was quite curious to see what it was. Vera opened the door wider and stepped into the room. She walked up to the glass and peered inside, but she couldn't see anything. She tapped on the glass softly not wanting it to break.

"Hello, are there any fish in there?" She asked.

Riku heard a voice that he wasn't expecting. His heart began to pump hard against his chest. Was he imagining? No, he had heard it. He was sure he had heard it. He could never forget that voice. Oh, and he thought he would never hear it again. _She_ was here. She was actually here, but…she didn't know what he was. She probably thought he was human and that's what she was expecting, but a merman…she wouldn't want that. Riku decided that he couldn't show himself to her. As much as he wanted to gaze into those honey brown eyes once more, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Vera turned to the stairs that led up to the top of the tank. She walked up the stairs and onto the platform behind the enclosure where there was a door that led inside. She read the sign on the door. _Employees only, huh?_ Vera jiggled the door knob and to her surprise it opened. _Well what they don't know can't hurt them. _She stepped out onto a concrete surface made to look like real rocks. She didn't want to go near the water, but her curiosity was eating her up inside. To make sure she wouldn't tumble into the water like she did that cliff, she got on her hands and knees and crawled towards the edge carefully.

"Damn, I hope a big shark doesn't come up and bite my head off." She said. "Dad would kill me if he saw me doing this." Vera gazed down into the waters depths. "Here, fishy fishy fishy…"

Riku gazed up at the surface. Where he was sitting she couldn't see him, but he could see her. _I wonder what she is saying. I wish I could speak to her. If only I could speak human or she could use telepathy, then we could talk and..._ Riku sighed and before he realized it, a few bubbles escaped his lips. He smacked his hands over his mouth, but it was too late.

Vera saw a few bubbles come up from below. "Well, well, so there is something in there, huh. I knew I didn't imagine that splash." Her eyes squint up looking harder. "Damn it, I can't see it."

He could see her gaze looming over the water. He wanted to see her clearly and closer. He couldn't stand it any longer.

_Maybe just a peek. _

Riku swam up carefully and poked his head up through the water. He smiled the first time since he had gotten captured. _She looks rather silly doing that. _Riku thought as Vera continued to stare into the water on her hands and knees. Riku went into a daze as he watched her.

"Nuttin." Vera said sighing. Suddenly Vera had the feeling someone was watching her. She wondered if she had been caught sneaking. She turned her head to look behind her, but as she did so she caught sight of something...or someone.

"Huh?!" She exclaimed.

That woke Riku out of his day dream and he realized that he and the girl had made eye contact. He stared into her chocolate eyes as she gazed into his aquamarine. They were both frozen for a moment.

Vera couldn't believe her eyes. It was _him_. The boy who had saved her, but what the heck was he doing here? She could never forget those blue green eyes and that flowing silver hair. It was really him. Although, seeing him in a fish tank, she feared for his sanity. What kind of guy goes around swimming in fish tanks?

Riku knew what he had to do. He dunked his head underwater.

"Hey—no—wait!" The girl cried.

Riku stopped. That was the same desperate voice she used when he had saved her that day of the storm. He couldn't ignore her. Not after that. He swam back up careful not to reveal that burden of a tail of his.

The boy's head came back up through the water. A smile broke across Vera's face, but he stared back at her blankly. A little fearful if she wasn't mistaken. "Hey, there. You know, you should probably get out of there. Who knows what the hell is in there." She held out her hand to him. "C'mon I'll pull you out."

Riku stared at her hand. She was trying to pull him out so that he could stand up on his feet—only problem was he didn't have any feet. He had a feeling that the girl would sit there forever with her hand out to him if he didn't show her. He'd have to show her, to make her understand. He was scared to show her the truth, but he knew there was no avoiding it. She would find out eventually. Riku moved away from the girls hand and she pulled it back frowning with confusion. "Wha…" Riku closed his eyes and dived.

Vera jumped back and squealed when she saw a black & silver dolphin tail emerge from the water after the boy's torso disappeared. Some water was splashed upon her as it kicked itself down into the water. She added two and two together. She came to realize that the young man who had saved her life was not really a man at all, but a…

"Merman…" She breathed. "Impossible. It can't be." Vera waited until the shock wore off to start thinking. "So that's how he was able to swim through that storm and save me, because he was a merman. And he must have gotten himself captured and that's why Dad's been her for the past three days because of him." Vera stared back down at the water.

_Just walk away, Vera. _Her mind told her. _Just walk away and forget all about this. It'll be old news by tomorrow. Don't get involved… _But her heart said._ He may not be human, but he still saved my life. I don't care if he's a merman._

Vera started splashing the water trying to get him to come back up. "Hey! Come back! Let's talk!"

Riku had gone back to his spot within the tank and he was surprised to hear the girl's voice again. _She's still there? She didn't run away? She's not afraid of me? _Riku swam cautiouslyback up to the surface.

Vera saw the top of his head and his eyes above the water. "Don't be afraid." She held her hand out to him once more. "Come on, I just want to talk, okay. That's it. Please?"

Riku hesitated. He lifted his hand up out of the water and slowly placed it in Vera's hand. She smiled at him and he couldn't help, but smile too. Vera pulled on his hand and Riku's smile faltered. She tugged on it again.

"Well, c'mon. Come sit with me."

Riku had never been so ashamed of himself in all his life. He didn't want to show his tail to her again, but she kept pulling on his arm. Finally he hoisted himself up and sat beside her. Vera gazed at his tail with astonishment.

"Oh my god…it's so—you're so…" She said to him and blushed. She stared at his tail a while, and had a bad urge to touch it, but she thought that would be rude. She looked into his eyes and blushed turning her head away. Being this close to him made her heart jumpy. He was just so incredibly handsome that she could hardly take it.

Riku was blushing like mad. He couldn't help but stare down at her legs. He wanted to feel them, but he didn't think she would like that. His heart was pounding so hard he thought that it might stop.

Vera and Riku tried looking at each other, but every time they did, they blushed and turned their heads away bashfully. Vera forced herself to look at him and as she did so she turned an even brighter red.

"So, what's your name?" She asked. Riku frowned cocking his head to the side. Vera tried again. "What's your name? Do you have a name?" Riku shook his head slowly with that same expression on his face. "You—you can't understand me, can you? You don't speak English or Japanese?"

Riku looked down. _Great. She's talking to me, but I don't know what the heck she is saying. Why didn't I learn to speak human, damn it! _

"Hm…" Vera thought how she could get him to understand. She got an idea. "Okay, I know." Vera took Riku's hand and placed it over her heart. "Vera. I'm Vera."

Riku remembered hearing that word before. It was after he rescued her and the man who was running to her said that word. _That must be her name. Is that what's she's telling me? _Riku hesitated before trying to speak. He hadn't done much speaking with his tongue, but all things considering his speech was very plain and understandable. "Vera?"

"Yes!" Vera smiled. She really liked the sound of his voice. It made her tingle. "My name is Vera."

Riku got the idea. He took Vera's hand and placed it over his heart. _Okay, now what was my name in human again? Oh yeah. _"Riku." He said slowly.

"Riku?" He nodded. "That's a nice name. It really suits you." Vera said. She saw something on Riku's arm and reached for it. "Hey, what's that?" Riku jerked his arm away and shook his head. He was afraid she would touch it and set it off. Vera eyed the brand name on the device.

_Never heard of that before. Wonder why he won't let me touch it_.

Vera scooted over closer to him. "Listen," She started gazing into his eyes. Looking at him made her stomach fill with butterflies. She noticed her voice became more anxious. "I wanted to thank you for saving me. I know you probably don't know what the heck I'm saying, but maybe this will show you…" Vera leaned towards Riku slowly. Riku closed his eyes. His heart felt like it was about to explode.

Suddenly, there was a loud squeak and Vera jumped to her feet. "Oh no! I'm not supposed to be in here. I've got to hide." Riku dived back into the water and came back up to help Vera.

_If she's in trouble she can come and hide with me under the water. _He thought as he held his hand out to her.

Vera shook her head quickly. "No, I'm not getting into the water. Just go hide okay, Riku." She made a shooing gesture. "Go on, go!" Riku nodded and dived back under the water. She heard someone coming up the stairs. "Okay, think fast girl." She glanced around and saw that she could squeeze herself between the wall and the rock. "Bingo!" She slid herself between the hiding spot right as the door to the enclosure opened. Vera held her breath. She recognized the man who came in. It was her dad's boss Xehanort. He walked to the edge and pulled something out of his pocket. To Vera it looked like a small remote.

"Let's see how well he listens now." Xehanort pressed the button on the remote. Riku suddenly felt a shock go through his body, but he didn't leave his spot. "Hm, okay then." Xehanort turned the shock up. "Try this." Riku felt an even worse shock hit him and he grunted, but he still did not emerge from the water.

_What's he doing? _Vera wondered.

"Quite stubborn, aren't we? Looks like you leave me no choice." Xehanort said with false sympathy. He turned the device up to the highest level and pressed the button.

Riku's muscles contracted painfully once more and this time he cried out. He wanted the pain to stop. Riku wasn't one to give up a fight, but this was just too much. He knew he couldn't take another hit like that again. Riku broke through the surface near Xehanort's feet. He leaned his head against the rock panting.

"Very good." Xehanort said. "But just to make sure." He activated the device again and Riku went into a fit of more painful spasms.

Vera listened and watched Riku cry and twist in pain. Tears were sliding down her cheeks as she saw the boy who saved her life being tortured. _He's hurting him. That monster! He's hurting him! _

The device released Riku from his torment and he sunk down under the water hardly conscious. "A few more sessions like that and you'll be doing flips for me in no time." Xehanort chuckled. Vera wanted to jump out and beat the crap out of that man. She never liked Xehanort, but now she absolutely hated him with a passion. He opened the door to the enclosure and left. Vera waited until he had left the room all together to come out of hiding. Vera went to the edge of the water and splashed it trying to get his attention.

"Riku! Riku, are you okay! Please, answer me!"

Riku could hear Vera calling from above, but his body hurt so badly that he couldn't. He wanted to swim up and assure her that he was okay, but that would have been a lie. He was lying on his side in the corner of the tank unable to move without feeling pain. Vera ran down the stairs to the bottom of the tank. She saw Riku lying in the corner.

"Riku!" Riku lifted his head up a fraction of an inch and gave a weary smile. "Oh, Riku." She wanted to get in there to hold and comfort him. The skin around that device on Riku's arm was severely red. "So that's why you wouldn't let me touch it. That's what hurts you." Vera looked back towards the door. She knew it was time to leave. Her dad may come looking for her or Xehanort might come back. Vera looked back to Riku. "I have to go, but I'll come back." She whispered. "I'll come back and see you. Now, you just rest."

Vera turned to go, but stopped when she saw Riku place his hand upon the glass. She came back and placed her hand over top of his. Riku saw tears slide down her cheeks and he wanted to reach out through the glass to wipe them away. He tried to say her name, but found it very difficult to talk underwater. He didn't want her to leave. He didn't want to be alone again.

"Please don't look at me like that." Vera pleaded. "This isn't goodbye. I'll come back I promise." Vera held her hand over Riku's a while longer then dashed towards the door. Riku watched Vera as she left.

_Please come back, Vera. _He thought as he fell asleep.


	6. The Full Moon

Vera closed the door back in a hurried fashion and ran down the hall looking over her shoulder. She was almost to the end until she ran right into someone knocking her backwards.

"Ow! Hey, what's the big—" She started before she looked up at the person she had run into.

"Are you lost, little girl?" Xehanort said in a snobby voice.

Vera pursed her lips and stood up. "No—" Then she re thought what she was about to say. She didn't want him getting suspicious. "Actually…" She started taking an innocent tone. "I was looking for Cloud Strife. I'm his daughter, Vera."

"Daughter? Cloud never told me he had a daughter."

Vera's heart sunk a little bit at those words. "Oh. Well, he left earlier and Tifa said he'd be back soon. Has he returned yet?"

Xehanort gave a frustrated sigh. "As a matter of fact I just sent him back home. I found him asleep in his office over his desk. So I told him to take a break and come in early tomorrow." He glowered at Vera. "Might I ask what were you doing back here?"

Vera gulped. "Um…I got lost. You see I haven't been to this place in years and it's changed a lot. I saw this new hallway…and I thought…as great as a marine biologist my Dad is…I automatically assumed…he'd be moved to a better office." She smiled.

Xehanort raised his eyebrows. "I suppose you haven't been here since I took charge of this place a few years ago. My name is Xehanort."

"I know. I've seen you before…you just never looked at me. You were always talking to Dad."

"Really? I don't remember seeing you. Well, you must understand that I was most likely telling your father something very important. I don't have time to go around meeting my employee's families, you know.

"Of course." Vera said nicely. She really wanted to kick him in the groin. "Who has time for kids?"

"Which reminds me, I've got to get back to my office." Xehanort walked past her. "It was nice meeting you, uh, Vinnny."

Vera glared after him. "It's Vera." But he paid no mind to her. She watched him go into the room across from the room where he was holding Riku. Vera shook her head and walked back into the aquarium's exhibits where the otters were and out the front door. Vera took off at a dead run after she left the aquarium. She had to get to her computer. She had some things to look up.

Vera opened the door to her house and walked inside. She saw her dad sitting in the arm chair. He didn't look at her.

"Where have you been?" He asked. "Running about? You know you're grounded."

"I know and no I have not! I went looking for you."

"Looking for me?" He frowned at her. "You knew very well where I was."

Vera dropped her small backpack by the door. "Yeah, and I came there to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About you not being at home for the past three days."

Cloud was silent for a moment. He had a guilty look on his face. "I'm home now." He said quietly as he started to get up. "Vera, I'm really—"

Vera put a hand up looking away. "Yeah, I know. Tired." She headed off towards her room. "Sorry for disturbing you."

Cloud heard Vera's door slam and slunk back into his big comfy armchair. He sighed rubbing his temples. "Sorry." He finished his previous sentence.

Vera had no time to worry about her dad at the moment. She hopped into her computer chair and began clicking away on the internet. Sadly as long as she was on there, she didn't find hardly any information.

"Well that doesn't help. Oh, forget it." Vera turned off her computer and stretched out on her bed. "I guess no one really knows. After all, only a few people know that mermaids and mermen exist. Still, I figured that maybe there'd be something out there. Maybe I can check the library tomorrow." Vera turned over on her side and stared out the window. She began thinking about Riku. Riku…she really liked that name. She thought over many plots to help Riku escape, but she knew none of them would really work. Only in her dreams. Plus, even if she did help him escape she had no idea how to take care of a merman.

_Where would I put him? In the bathtub? Shit, dad would flip! _ Vera turned over on her side._ I can't help him escape as much as I want to. I'm only one person and I'm a loser at that. I can't do anything right. I guess all I can do for him now is keep him company. _

Vera got up the next morning and wasn't surprised to not find Cloud at the kitchen table. She wondered if he was with Riku right now. She wondered if he was hurting him like Xehanort. She'd kill him if he was. School went by slowly for Vera. The clock didn't seem to move at all. It was torture. Kairi and Selphie noticed her acting weird and confronted her at lunch.

"What is up, Vera?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah, why are you acting so weird? More so than usual." Selphie said. Kairi elbowed her. "What?!"

Vera stared down at her food not touching it. _Riku all alone in that tank bored out of his mind._ _Being tested on and tortured. I have to go see him again. Damn it! I have to do something! I don't know what, but I have to at least try and save him! But where would I start? I haven't the slightest clue…_

"Vera!" Kairi yelled.

Vera was startled out of her thoughts. "Huh?! What?! Who?!" She exclaimed causing several heads in the cafeteria to stare at her.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing! Why did you yell at me?"

"Because you weren't listening! Why's your head stuck in the clouds today?"

"My head's not in the clouds."

"You're daydreaming about something…eek!" Kairi gasped smiling. "I know! I know I know I know I know what you're thinking about!"

Vera was stunned. "You do?"

"Of course! You're thinking about a boy. Why didn't I notice it earlier? You've got all the symptoms. Lack of focus, loss of appetite…you met someone yesterday didn't you? Why didn't you tell me! Who is he? What's he look like? Is he nice? Do you like him? Well of course you like him otherwise you wouldn't be all gaga over him. Oh my god!"

Vera was some what surprised that Kairi had guessed pretty accurately. She was thinking about a boy. Not a human boy technically. "Kairi, calm down." Vera said.

"Hi, guys." Roxas came and sat down beside Vera. "Did I miss anything yesterday?"

"Vera has a crush on a boy!" Kairi squealed.

"I do not!"

"Really?" Roxas said looking over at Vera. "Who is he?"

"I didn't meet anyone! Kairi's just a weirdo! Look—I've got to go now."

Vera started to get up, but Kairi grabbed her by the arm. "No don't go! I'm sorry, Vera. I'm just really excited that's all. Did you really meet someone? That's all I want to know."

Vera hesitated a moment, but settled back down between Kairi and Roxas. "Yeah…"

"Oh my god!" She squealed. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Tell us about him."

"O-oh." Vera glanced up at the ceiling. _I can't tell them about Riku. They'd think I'm nuts. _

"Oh come on, Vera." Selphie said. "Tell us."

"W-well…o-okay. Um…" She stuttered. "Well, he's really handsome…" Her cheeks began to turn red.

"We figured that much." Roxas said annoyed.

"Details! Details, Vera!" Selphie said.

"Um…"

"C'mon you're killing me." Roxas said. "What's he look like."

Vera created a mental picture of Riku in her head and couldn't help, but blush a little thinking about him. She began giving a description of him. Minus the tail. "He's got long flowing silver hair…"

Selphie sighed and Kairi said. "Sounds hot."

"Sounds like a fag." Roxas mumbled.

"Shut up!" Kairi said reaching around Vera to hit him in the back.

"Ow!"

"Go on Vera." Selphie said.

"Okay…he's got these big beautiful blue green eyes." She sighed. "I've never seen such eyes. They're so…they make me feel…" Vera paused.

Selphie hit the table. "Well? Spit it out." She urged her.

Vera turned an even deeper red. "Magical." She whispered.

"Hmph. Excuse me while I barf all over this table." Roxas said.

"That's it Roxas." Kairi said. "Seifer!"

Vera could feel Roxas stiffen like a board beside her. Fear swept over his features instantly. "Shit shut up! Okay I'm sorry! I won't say anything else I swear!"

"I think I'm done now." Vera's embarrassment was taking over her.

"Oh please Vera." Kairi pleaded. "I promise I'll kill Roxas if he says something mean again."

This made Vera feel a little better. Roxas was really getting on her nerves being a asshole. "Well, okay. He's really…" She smiled. "Buff."

Kairi teased. "So it should be easy for him to throw you across the bed. Huh? Huh?"

"Kairi…" Vera buried her burning face in her hands.

"Did he just move here?" Selphie asked.

Vera peeked through the slits of her fingers. "Uh, sort of…"

"Where's he staying at?"

"The uh…aquarium…"

"Wow, he works at the aquarium. That's cool. Did you talk to him?"

"Kind of…"

"What did he say?" Kairi asked about to jump out of her seat.

Vera laughed nervously. "He didn't say much."

"What is he foreign?" Roxas asked.

Selphie and Kairi squealed. "Foreign!"

Vera was beginning to get tongue tied. She couldn't figure out what it was she was going to say in the first place.

"Is he foreign?" Kairi asked.

Vera sighed. She didn't know what else to say. "Yeah, he's foreign."

"That is so cool!" Selphie and Kairi said at the same time.

"Foreigners are so dreamy." Selphie said.

"Where's he from?" Kairi asked.

"The Oce—" Vera caught herself before she had completed the word. "I mean, he lives an ocean away."

"An ocean away?" Roxas said frowning. "That's it?"

"He…" Vera's thoughts were all in a jumble and she had to quickly pick them apart to say exactly what she wanted. "Use to live on the Western Isles."

"Isn't that where Tidus and Wakka use to live?"

"Uh-huh." Selphie said. "They lived on the island of Besaid before they moved here."

"What the most important question I think we need to ask is." Kairi started. "What's his name?"

"Riku." Vera smiled saying his name. "His name is Riku."

After school, Vera rushed home determined to see Riku again. She was so excited. Her heart was thumping in tune with her fast footsteps. As soon as she got into her room she took off her school uniform and started looking for something to wear.

"Too preppy…too sporty…too boyish…too slutty!" She said as she yanked clothes out from her closet and flinging them over her head. "God, I don't have anything to wear! Okay, let's forget about the clothes for a minute."

Vera jumped in front of her mirror and began styling her hair. No matter how she styled it though, she wasn't satisfied. Vera finally decided to just leave her hair down instead of doing anything fancy to it. She put on a nice blue tank and some black Bermuda shorts. She had even put on some girly looking sandals her dad had got her last Christmas. She had sworn to herself she would never wear them because they were so girly, but she thought Riku might like girly. She laced them up around her ankle and was about to march through the door when all the sudden the door knob turned by itself. Cloud opened the door and stepped into the house.

"Hello, sweetheart…" He glanced at his daughter all nice and dressed up. Vera saw his brow furrow. "Where do you think you're going?"

Vera hesitated. "Dad? Wow, you're back. I'm glad to see you." She laughed nervously. "I was…You see…"

"You know you're grounded." Cloud shook a finger at her.

"I know!" She snapped. "I was going to the aquarium." Vera said innocently. "I was on my way to visit you. Really I was."

He snorted. "You expect me to believe that? You've never come to see me at work before. I think you're just trying to get out of the house."

Vera knew now she couldn't leave the house with her dad at home. If he had stayed at work and had she met him there she could have made up any kind of excuse easily. "I thought we could do something together. That's all. You know something fun. Like we use to. Like that one time with mom—" Vera cut herself off. She had said the M word by accident. She felt so stupid now. She knew better than to use the word "Mom" around her dad. She could already see Cloud's eyes lose their light.

Cloud's gaze drifted down to the floor. Neither he nor Vera said anything. They just stood there in silence. Finally Cloud looked back up at his daughter with a small grim smile on his face.

"No. I can't. You're grounded." He said bluntly. "Go back to your room." And he walked down the hallway into his bedroom slamming the door.

Vera knew what her dad would be doing. He would sit on the edge of the bed staring at the blank wall all night just because she had mentioned her mother. It would awaken a bunch of bad and painful memories for him. He couldn't get over his grief and Vera felt like it was her fault. She was too much like Aerith. Vera forgot about going to see Riku and went back into her room.

Later that night, Vera sat on the side of her bed fidgeting. Thoughts were buzzing around her head about to drive her nuts. Cloud couldn't get over Aerith and because of that Vera couldn't really either. One of the reasons she resented her dad so much was because when he was in emotional pain so was she. When Cloud got depressed Vera got depressed. His pain was her pain and she blamed herself for her father's pain. She believed if she was more like him and not Aerith he wouldn't be so sad all the time. She thought about her dad lying in bed in that zombie like state. It hurt her so much that her dad was always so miserable. And it was always her fault. Always. She couldn't take it anymore. She had to stop thinking! Vera stood up and reached under her bed. She pulled out a slim rectangular black box.

Vera took the box and tiptoed into the bathroom locking the door behind her. She climbed into the bathtub and sat the box down in front of her. She took the rubber bracelets on her arms and threw them to the side. A lump was starting to form in her throat as tears began to well up in her eyes. She rubbed her scarred wrists roughly then opened her little black box. Vera hesitated at first. She always hesitated because she knew it was wrong…stupid…crazy, but she did it anyways because it helped her stop thinking. The pain consumed her thoughts. She sat there for almost ten minutes staring at the sharp instrument. There was a sound coming from the other room. It was very hard to decipher what it was, but Vera knew exactly what it was. Cloud was crying. Vera reached out towards the black box and picked up the blade…

Vera woke up the next morning curled up in the bathtub. She got on her knees and turned the water on to wash off the dried blood on her arms and wrists. When she was done she picked up her razor blade and washed it off too. She placed it back into its black box. Even after washing her cuts with cold water they still throbbed painfully.

"Never again…" She whispered as she got out of the bathtub. "Never again."

She always told herself that. She would tell herself she was going to stop, but she always started again.

After taking a nice shower and hiding and dressing her self inflicted wounds, Vera felt a lot better. She walked into the kitchen to find Cloud sitting there reading his newspaper. He looked up from it and smiled at her.

"Hey there, kiddo."

Vera saw that her dad was acting normal again. His grief spell had worn off.

"Oh, hi…what are you doing here?" She asked sitting down at the table. "Don't you have work?"

"I took the day off." He said. "Demyx is taking care of my shift today."

"Shift?" Vera asked.

"For the project we're working on. Seems like we have to watch it 24/7." He took a drink of his coffee.

"Really?" Vera's voice took a slightly bitter tone. She knew exactly what their 'project' was. "And what is this project you're working on, Dad?"

Cloud got strangled when his daughter asked this question and started coughing. "Nothing really." He said trying to be casual. "Nothing you'd be interested in."

"No." Vera pressed. "I want to know. It has to be something interesting otherwise it wouldn't be taking up all your time, right?" She smiled. "Tell me."

"Vera," He laughed. "It's just…" He hesitated. "We're working with manatees. We've never had them at the aquarium before until now. We're trying to get them settled in. They're hard to transport because they get stressed easily so we've had to keep a close eye on them."

_Oh he's good._ Vera thought. _Manatees. Wow, classic._ "Can't one of the fish keepers or whatever they're called watch them? I mean, you're a biologist, Dad. You shouldn't waste your time babysitting sea cows."

"We've been doing tests on them frequently to make sure they're still healthy and I have to watch over these tests to make sure they're done right the first time."

"Still it seems like it wouldn't be a job that keeps you out late night after night."

Cloud laid his newspaper down and stood up. "You know, Vera. It's more complicated than it sounds." He looked up at the clock. "You better go get ready for school."

"Yeah, all right." Vera went to her room and slipped on her school uniform. She had to go see Riku today. She felt terrible for not going to see him the previous day, but with her dad at the house she couldn't. She'd have to figure out a way today to get by him. She walked back into the kitchen and saw Cloud's billfold on the table and it reminded her she needed to get lunch money.

"Hey, Dad! Can I borrow some money for lunch?" She called through the house.

"Go ahead."

She opened his wallet and got the money she needed. Then curiously, she pulled out a blue card. She examined it and knew instantly what it was.

"Dad's card key. This gets him in and out of the locked areas of the aquarium." She lifted her head up to see if her dad was watching then put it in her pocket. _Dad won't notice it missing since he's taking the day off so I better hold on to it. It may come in handy when I go to see Riku today. As far as I know they may have the door locked this time. Now I've got to figure out a way to go to the aquarium without dad suspecting I'm running off. I am grounded after all._

Vera grabbed a blueberry muffin and sat down at the kitchen table trying to think up a good plan. Cloud came back into the kitchen and turned on the sink.

"I'm going to try and clean the house up today. You can help when you get home." He said as he started doing the dishes.

_Uh-oh. Lie Vera. Lie!_ "Um…no I can't." Vera said as she tried to think up a good lie as to why not. _Maybe if I say I'm doing something for school he'll let me go. _"I've got something to do this afternoon….its for school."

"School?"

"Yeah…I've got to go to the library and look up some stuff for a project." She lied.

"Oh, what for?" He asked. Vera could already tell he was already buying into it. He always was gullible when it came to school.

"…we're doing something on mythology. We have to pick a myth and do an essay on it." Vera smirked as she got an idea on what her fake subject would be. "I'm doing mermaids."

Cloud's hand slipped off a plate he was cleaning and it splashed into the dishwater soaking his shirt. "Really, that's interesting." He muttered. _Ironic. _He thought.

"Well it's not just mermaids I'm doing mermen, too. I figured I'd do the whole shebang. So can I go to the library later? Please?"

He sighed. "Yes, but be back by six all right."

Vera smiled. She had succeeded. "Thanks dad."

********

Riku was bored out of his mind. There was nothing to do. Nothing to do, but wait for Vera. He wasn't too hopeful that she would be back, though. Riku had been so excited the previous day to see her again. He had waited anxiously for her return, but she never came. It crushed his heart that she never showed. He felt like Vera was the only thing worth living for now. So many things went through his mind.

_Please tell me she's coming back._ He sighed. _I want to see her again. I need to see her again. Ow…my tail hurts. I hate that man. _

Riku rubbed the patch on the side of his tail. The orange eyed man had taken a chunk out of Riku's tail to test it and hadn't even bothered to bandage it yesterday. It was the man with the spiky hair who had taken care of his wound. Riku didn't mind the spiky haired man as much as he did the others. So far he had been very kind to him. The weird jumpy one wasn't too bad either. The only thing he didn't like about him was that he went around poking him with needles and taking his blood. Riku swore the next time he tried that trick he was going to break both of his scrawny little arms. Riku was sitting in a corner of the tank when he heard the sound of a door opening. He prayed that it wouldn't be the orange eyed man. His body gave an involuntary jump as he saw a head of brown hair.

Vera had been smart to take her dad's card key. It turned out that Riku's room was locked and only using the key to the scanner opened it. Vera saw Riku swim up to the surface and she ran up the stairs and into his enclosure. Riku's head popped up through the surface.

"Vera!" He said excitedly. Riku wanted to say how much he had missed her, but he didn't know what human words to use. He lifted his hand up out of the water and reached towards her. Vera smiled taking his hand and lacing her fingers through his. "Vera…"

"I missed you too." She whispered. "I'm so so so sorry I wasn't here yesterday. I tried to come. I really did, but my mean ole dad wouldn't let me." Riku just smiled at her. He liked it when she talked. He couldn't understand it, but it was very pretty when she spoke. "Are you all right? Xehanort hasn't hurt you anymore has he?" Vera pulled on Riku's arm and helped him up out of the water. She saw something on the side of his tail. "Hey, what's that? Oh no." She looked up at Riku. "Riku, you're hurt." Vera's hand move towards his tail, but she pulled it back. She couldn't touch his tail that would be rude. She figured he was tired of people touching it. "Sorry."

Riku chuckled taking her hand and placed it on his tail. He didn't mind if Vera touched his tail. It was just everyone else. Vera let out a little gasp when she felt the smooth sleek skin beneath her fingertips. It felt just like a dolphin's. She glanced up and met his eyes and blushed looking back down. Vera moved her hand over to where the patch was and Riku stiffened.

"I'm just going to look at it. I'll be gentle." She said lifting up the patch. Fury flared inside of Vera when she saw the wound Riku had. It looked like someone had taken a knife and just took a chunk out of him. "Oh, Riku…" She placed the patch back down and gazed into Riku's aquamarine eyes. Vera knew what she was about to say was crazy, but she knew she had to do it. "Riku, I'm going to get you out of here." She placed a hand on his cheek and they both blushed. Vera said with determination. "Some how some way I'm going to save you. Tonight. You can't take another day of this torture. I can see it in your eyes. So I'm going to bust you out." She took Riku's hand as she stood up. "I'll be back later. I've got to make a plan." She stared at the device on his arm. "We'll need to get this little devil off, won't we? Hm…" She stared at the little red blinking light that was the sensor. She remembered seeing Xehanort with a little remote when he activated the device. "I wonder where that remote could be. It might be able to deactivate this thing. Probably in his office, but I don't know how to get in there. Dad's key surely wouldn't open it. Wait a minute…" Vera got back down on her knees and lifted Riku's arm up higher. "Hold that there a minute. Right there. Huh." Underneath the armlet was a loose wire that had begun to stick out.

Riku was confused by Vera's actions. _What the heck is she doing? Is this some kind of human girl thing?_ "Vera?"

"There are wires under here Riku. I bet they can be cut and can deactivate this sucker." She lowered his arm down and smiled. "I can get that damn thing off of you if I had some pliers or something." Riku continued to stare at her confused. Vera sighed. "You don't understand a single word I'm saying, can you?" Vera moved closer to him. "Well you'll understand tonight. You'll get to go home. Now I've got to go, okay. You just hang in there and I'll be back for you tonight."

Riku took Vera's face in his hands and she was surprised by how quickly he moved. His face felt like it was on fire. He wanted to kiss her so badly it was about to kill him, but he was afraid to. What if she didn't want it? He was a merman and she was a human, why would she want him?

_Do it. _He thought. _Just do it, Riku. Move in and… _Riku turned his head away, his bangs covering his face slightly hiding his blush. He pulled his hands away from Vera's face. She couldn't help, but giggle. He looked very cute when he was shy. She took his hand and squeezed it. "Remember, I'll see you later."

Vera got up and left Riku's tank room and headed for home.

*************

_How in the hell am I going to get him out of there?_ It was an hour till midnight and Vera lay stretched out on her bed. She thought over so many plans to save Riku, but there was always some sort of draw back or 'what if' possibility. She was getting discouraged and frustrated. She didn't want to let Riku down. She couldn't leave him in that cruel place another night. Suddenly it occurred to Vera that she couldn't do this. She couldn't save Riku…alone. She had no choice. Vera knew that she needed help, but who could be her accomplice? They had to be trustworthy…strong enough to help her with Riku….and easy to boss around. Vera glanced over at her phone. There was only one person who fit that description. She picked up the phone and dialed as quickly as possible.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." The phone rang several times, but no one was picking up. "Come on! Pick up!" She growled.

Finally someone picked up the phone. "Hello?" A sleepy voice said on the other end.

"Roxas are you in the bed?" Vera said bewildered.

Roxas yawned. "Yeah, I always go to bed at 9:00. Why'd you call?"

Vera laughed nervously. "Roxas, if I asked you to meet me by the back of the aquarium in one hour, what would you say?"

There was silence over the other line. "…I'd say you're fucking crazy. Why?"

Vera sighed. She still couldn't believe she was doing this. "Because I need your help."

"What? No. It's way too late and it's past your bedtime."

Vera scoffed. "I don't have a 'bedtime', Roxas. Look will you help me out or not?"

"I said no." Roxas said firmly.

Vera took a harsher tone. "You said, as I recall, that if I ever needed anything, anything at all, you'd be there for me. No matter what."

"I said that?"

"Yes you said that. Well, my cousin, that time has come. You must pay your debt."

"Now?"

"Yes now."

"Vera…" He whined. "Please. We can break the law some other time, but not tonight, okay?"

"Yes tonight!" Vera yelled. She was getting very upset. She needed Roxas to help her and now he was being a baby about it. "Roxas, if you don't help me I swear on my mother's grave that I will never talk to you again. Ever." She said in the most serious tone.

There was a brief silence. "Ever?" Roxas squeaked. Vera could tell he was taken aback by her last statement.

"Ever."

"You're bluffing." Vera didn't say anything. "Vera?" She still didn't say anything. "Oh, come on, Vera…oh god, all right. All right! I'll come. Are you happy now?"

Vera smiled feeling very satisfied. "Yes. Sneak out and meet me there."

Roxas groaned. "Yeah, okay."

"Oh and do you have pliers?"

"Yeah…"

"Bring them."

"Why?"

"Just do it, okay?"

"Okay."

Vera hung up the phone and hopped off her bed. She grabbed a blanket from the closet and tucked it under her arm. Cautiously, she slipped out of her room and tiptoed down the hallway. She hugged up against the wall and glanced around the corner. Her father had fallen asleep on the couch watching T.V.

_Perfect._

With silent baby steps, Vera went to the front door and slipped out undetected. It was a long walk from Vera's house to the aquarium. She stuck to secluded paths and backstreets so not to draw any sort of attention. There was no need for a flash light the moon was big and full…Roxas was already there when she arrived at the aquarium's employ entrance.

"About time. I've been sitting here for ages and in the dark too."

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Did you bring the pliers?"

Roxas lifted the pliers up he held at his side. "Yep. Now, I've got several theories why we're here…but I think my first one is probably the most accurate."

"Really?" Vera rolled her eyes. "Do tell."

"It's something to do with drugs isn't it?" Roxas pointed a finger at her. "We're here to steal animal drugs so you can go home and snort it up, huh?" Vera glared at him and smacked his accusing finger down. "Ouch!"

"Shut up."

Vera walked over to the back door and took her dad's card key out of her pocket. "Vera, please." Roxas begged. "What are we doing here?"

Vera sighed and looked at Roxas's big blue eyes. "I'm here to help someone. You'll see when we get inside. Just try not to freak out when you see him okay?"

"Freak out? Vera what are we doing?!" He demanded again.

"We're...I'm going to introduce you to Riku." Vera said slowly.

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Riku? The guy you like?"

She blushed. "Yeah…"

"Is he some kind of criminal? Is that why we're busting in here?"

"No. He's not a criminal he's…he's special."

Roxas chuckled. "You're in love with sped?" Vera gave him the dirtiest of looks. "What's the blanket for?"

"To drag him out." Vera said and turned towards the card scanner.

"Drag him out?" Vera ignored him and scanned her dad's card key and the door unlocked. She walked inside with Roxas complaining behind her.

"Vera? Vera! We're not going to get away with this. They probably have cameras here and everything." Roxas looked around worried.

"They don't have cameras here. It's a small aquarium with a tight budget."

"How would you know? You haven't been here in there years!"

"Follow me." Vera snarled grabbing him by the shirt collar and dragging him inside.

"Aw, man…" Roxas groaned.

***********

Riku lay on his back floating on the surface as he relaxed. He'd been sleeping for a while and he was finally waking up. He opened his eyes and looked up through the glass roof to the sky. There was a beautiful full moon out. Riku admired it. He couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from it.

_What a lovely full moon… _Something slowly began to click inside his mind. _Full moon…full moon… _Suddenly Riku gasped. _A full moon?!_

That was the reason he had come to Destiny Islands in the first place was to await the full moon. He had completely forgotten about it since his capture. He was supposed to be on the islet with Sora, but now that he wasn't he didn't know what to do. Riku decided he was going to go back underwater, but when he tried to move nothing happened. He couldn't take his eyes off the moon. He tried to blink, but he couldn't even do that. His body remained motionless. The clouds shifted letting the moonlight engulf him. Riku slowly began to tingle. He wondered if it was the shocking device on his arm or his wound, but it didn't feel anything like that. No this was something else.

_What is this…what's happening to me…?_

The tingling took over Riku's thoughts. Riku began to see strange visions. He heard gulls in the distance. White sands covered the ground before him. There were thick palm trees dripping with coconuts. The sun shone brightly in the sky. Riku was no longer in his prison. He knew exactly where he was. It was on the beach of the islet. Riku glanced behind him and saw footprints leading out of the ocean get washed away. He looked down at himself and saw that his body was bare. There was another remarkable change in him, but it felt natural for some reason. Out in the distance Riku heard a seductive voice.

"Riku…" Riku smirked and stepped out onto the dry white sand. "Riku…" The voice was like a sweet melody. Riku moved to the center of the beach and stopped. Over on the dock was a familiar figure. He stepped onto the dock and walked towards the figure. The individual turned around. It was Vera. Her hair was long and was left down. She wore a beautiful green dress that complemented her figure nicely.

"Hello, Riku." She said.

Riku spoke. "I've come to take you."

Vera smiled. "You have, have you?"

Riku moved closer to her until they were only inches apart. He towered over her. "I've come to take you back with me."

"To the ocean?" She asked hopeful.

"Yes."

"What if I say no?"

Riku embraced her. "Then I will take you by force. You will come with me. I'll make you. You will be mine."

"I already am…"

Riku lifted Vera's head up and was lost in her honey brown eyes. He brushed a hand against her curves and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He felt her warm breath on his skin. He leaned down to kiss her, but right as he did so he felt himself lose his balance. He tumbled backwards off the dock and into the water. He took in a deep breath, but his body rejected it. He began coughing and choking on the water. Riku tried to kick, but he didn't know how to use his legs. Riku felt a pain in his chest he never felt before. He couldn't breathe. Every time he inhaled the water it failed to supply him with air. Riku's body began to sink into the ocean's depths.

**************

Vera and Roxas made it to the door where Riku waited inside. "This is it." She took out the card key.

Roxas gasped. "You took your dad's key?"

"Yep." Vera swiped the card across the scanner and the door opened. She looked at Roxas. "Now, we'll have to hurry. I think they have people on duty 24/7. They could come waltzing in here and bust us."

"Great." Roxas peeked inside the door. "Riku's in there, right?"

"C'mon."

Roxas followed Vera inside and saw the large tank. He stopped and watched Vera walk towards the glass. Roxas thought he heard something. "You hear that? That splashing sound?"

Vera nodded. "Yes I do. I wonder what—" Vera reached the glass and froze up dropping her blanket. Roxas saw her start shaking.

"V—Vera?" He stuttered. He did not like the way she was acting.

Suddenly she dashed up the stairs to the top of the enclosure. "Roxas!" She screamed.

There was danger. He dashed up the stairs and into the enclosure. When he got there Vera was on her hands and knees at the edge of the water. What he saw next he couldn't understand. A silver haired boy—a naked boy—was struggling against the water. He splashed about violently trying to fight off the water, his head would duck under the surface then pop back up gasping and choking for air then would sink once again. It was obvious he was drowning.

Vera called out to him desperately. "Riku! Riku! Riku!" She looked up at Roxas. Tears trailed down her cheeks and he saw the fear stricken look in her eyes. "Roxas do something!"

Roxas didn't hesitate. He pulled off his jacket and dived into the cold water. The boy named Riku was sinking to the bottom of the tank. He wasn't fighting anymore and he was afraid that it may already be too late. The tank was deep and Roxas kicked his legs as hard as he could to reach him. Riku's body settled at the bottom of the floor. He never swam so fast in his life. Roxas finally reached Riku and wrapped his arms around his limp body. He heaved and kicked as hard as he could. It wasn't working out so he situated Riku and tried again. He made every effort to move through the water as fast as humanly possible. For a minute Roxas didn't think he was going to be able to get Riku to the surface. Riku was much bigger than Roxas and weighed him down. He was about to give up hope when he finally broke through the surface. He sunk back under a moment, but Vera grabbed Roxas by the shirt and pulled him back up.

"Let's get him out of here." Roxas panted.

Together, Roxas and Vera moved Riku onto the rock. Vera shook the silver haired boy. "Riku! Riku wake up!" Vera was too worried about Riku's life to notice the sudden transformation. Roxas pulled himself out of the water.

"Is he breathing?" He asked, but he already knew the answer.

"No." Her voice was shaky. "He's not breathing." She leaned down and listened for a heart beat, but got none. Vera stared down at Riku's lifeless body. She growled. "No…you're not going to do this to me. You're not going to do this to me!"

Vera tilted Riku's head back slightly and opened his mouth. She pressed her open mouth against his and breathed into him several times. After that she placed her hands together on his chest and pumped several times. She repeated this two times and on the third try Riku was still not responding.

"Breathe damn it! Breathe!" She said with bared teeth.

Roxas was afraid that there was nothing more she could do. As far as he could tell he was long gone. "Vera…" He placed a hand on Vera's shoulder, but she continued to do CPR. "I think Riku's—"

Suddenly Riku started coughing and gasping for air.

"Alive!" She squealed. "He's alive!" She looked up towards the ceiling. "Thank God I took that first aid class last semester. Roxas go get that blanket down stairs. Riku, hey, it's me." She lifted Riku up a little who was still coughing trying to catch his breath. "That's it. Breathe…you okay? You know, you scared the shit out of me just now." He groaned and started to shiver.

Roxas came back with the blanket. "Here I got it."

Vera thanked him and spread the blanket out over Riku. "Good. We need to keep him warm. I'm afraid he'll go into shock. Where are those pliers?"

Roxas wasn't questioning Vera anymore because he saw how much she cared about this Riku. He could ask questions later. He picked up his jacket and handed the pliers to Vera. "Come here." Roxas kneeled down by Riku and Vera. "Hold this arm up for me." He lifted the arm up that had the shocking device. Vera took the pliers and felt for the stray wires. "Do you know anything about cutting wires?" She asked.

"Uh, no."

"Me neither. I think if I reach in there and yank all the wires out it'll stop working."

"What's it do?"

"Shocks him."

_I knew it. _Roxas thought. _He's a crazy sped who takes shock therapy. _

Vera tilted her head as she snipped a wire. She reached the pliers in deeper where the stray wire was and snipped the rest. Luckily nothing bad happened. Vera saw with relief the little red blinking light had died out.

"What'd ya know? You did it." Roxas said.

Vera pulled hard on the armlet and yanked it off Riku's arm. The skin was irritated and red from where it had been. Vera looked over at Riku who had his eyes closed. "I can't believe it." She whispered.

"Can't believe it? Can't believe what?"

Vera shook her head. He wouldn't believe her. "I'm afraid to move him."

Roxas looked over at Riku. "Is he all right?"

"I think so. He's just exhausted." Vera looked down. "I should know. I've almost died twice from drowning."

"I'll carry him." Roxas offered.

"You think you can hold him?"

"I think so."

Vera looked from Roxas to Riku then back to Roxas. "He's pretty big. Bigger than you. Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay…" Vera bundled Riku up tightly before Roxas went to throw him over his shoulder. Roxas stood up shakily, but managed to hold him. "Got him?"

"Yeah."

"Sure?"

"He's not that much bigger than me, Vera."

"All right, let's get back to my house."

Roxas and Vera worked their way back out of the aquarium and back outside. They took their time getting home since they had Riku. They managed to sneak back inside Vera's house undetected. Roxas laid Riku down on Vera's bed.

"I'd like to ask some questions, but I have a feeling you're not going to answer any of them right now." Roxas sighed. "Can I go home now?"

Vera nodded. "Thank you, Roxas."

"You're welcome…"

After Roxas left Vera took the blankets and tucked Riku in. She was just so confused. When she had left him everything had been fine. Then when she returned…she couldn't even explain what happened. She had no idea how Riku's transformation was possible. Vera was just thankful she had decided to rescue him that night if she hadn't Riku would have been dead. He looked so uneasy in his sleep. Vera tucked a silver strand of hair away from his face.

"Riku, what's happened to you?" She whispered. "You're human."


	7. First Steps

Near the Destiny Islands' Marina a head of brunette spiky hair came up cautiously out of the water. His big blue eyes scanned the area for any danger. _This is it. This is where the humans dock their boats. Riku must be somewhere around here. I hope…_ Sora had been plotting for a way to rescue Riku ever since he had gotten captured. He was worried out of his mind and blamed himself for everything that had happened. _If I hadn't gotten in the way of that stupid net Riku wouldn't have had to save me._ Carefully, Sora began navigating his way around the boats.

Sora knew he was treading through dangerous waters, but he was determined to find Riku. He had never been so close to a human dock before. There were boats of all sizes around him and so many. He knew the ship that had taken Riku away had to be in the marina somewhere. He had memorized the symbol on it so that he could find it again. Sora heaved a big sigh realizing how many boats he would have to check. There weren't many people about walking the docks. It was very early in the morning. The sun hadn't peeked up above the horizon yet, allowing Sora to hide in the shadows effectively. _Well, better start looking._

The hours were ticking away as Sora looked over each and every ship he could find. He was beginning to lose hope of ever finding that ship. Finally, Sora came to the last few boats in the marina. Excited he examined every one of them to see if it was the boat that had taken Riku, but to his dismay they were not. Sora sunk under the way and floated down to the seabed. The full moon had passed and Sora knew that his family would be expecting him and Riku back home soon. Thinking of the full moon made Sora's skin tingle. It was the most beautiful moon he had ever seen in all his life. He couldn't draw his eyes away from it the entire night; it was so pleasurable… hypnotizing even. His body at times had felt strange as he was staring at it and sometimes visions popped into his head, but they faded away soon after. Sora also noticed that after the full moon his tail had felt kind of sore. Sora wished that he and Riku could have shared that magical experience together.

_I wonder if Riku saw the full moon last night. I really hope he did. It was great, but it would have been more fun to see with him. I wonder what kind of effect it had on him? Maybe it was just like mine or something different. _

As the sun rose up into the sky Sora gazed up at the surface watching the rays of light shine through the water and dance about the waves. _Riku where are you?_

******

Demyx was humming a little song to himself as he went into the merman's tank room. Xehanort had requested another blood sample and so he thought it would be best to get one from him in the early morning while he was asleep. He knew he'd have to sedate him regardless though. Sometimes the way the merman looked at him made Demyx think it was going to rip his arms off. The merman gave him the hardest time, but it was so innocent when it came to Cloud. _It's just like every other animal. It only cares about the person that feeds it. _He thought crossly. Demyx climbed up the stairs getting onto the platform behind the tank then entered the enclosure. He didn't see the young merman anywhere in sight. _Must be at the bottom of the tank hiding from me again._ He thought as he looked over into the water. Usually Demyx could see the shadow of the merman in some part of the tank, but today he didn't see any.

"Well that's strange." He said out loud. "It almost looks like nothing is in there." He took a step closer towards the edge when he stepped on something. "Huh?" Demyx lifted his foot up to see a broken armlet device. Its shape was very familiar to him. "Hey, isn't that—" Demyx stopped mid sentence. He picked the device up and looked down at the water then back at the device. Something began to click. No shadows in the tank and a broken device that looked exactly like the merman's shocker.

When the realization hit Demyx he dashed out of the tank room and across the hall to Xehanort's office. He tried jerking it open, but saw that it was locked. He banged on the door. "Boss! Boss! You've got to open up! This is an emergency!"

He heard Xehanort reply in an annoyed voice. "What is it now Demyx?"

"Um, it's about the merman." He whispered.

"Yes what is it?"

Demyx twisted his hands nervously. _Great I have to be the bearer of bad news. I hope he doesn't believe in shooting the messenger._ He thought as he gulped down a lump that had formed in his throat. "Um, sir, I don't know exactly how to tell you this, but…."

There was a long silence on the other side of the door. "But what?" Xehanort finally replied.

Demyx laughed nervously. "It's kind of…sort of…" He hesitated.

"What?"

"…gone."

The door to Xehanort's office suddenly swung open. Demyx met his fierce orange eyes and jumped. Furry was present in all of his features. Demyx laughed nervously giving his boss a pat on the shoulder.

"Oh well…you win some you lose some I guess…" Xehanort continued to give him that deadly leer of his. Demyx swallowed another lump in his throat and brushed away the sweat that had begun to collect on his forehead. Demyx tried another maneuver. "Pfft! Mermaids and mermen are old news anyway. You know what we should really get is some manatees, don't you think?" He knew that was the worst attempt to doused Xehanort's anger, but to his surprise his boss laughed.

"You know what you're right! Manatees would benefit us so much more. I really admire your brains, Demyx."

Demyx straightened up with pride and smiled. "Really?" He automatically relaxed now that Xehanort was okay.

"Oh, yes!" Xehanort said gesturing for Demyx to come closer. "That's why I have a very important job for you." He said kindly.

Demyx moved closer to his boss. "Yes, sir. Anything."

Suddenly, to Demyx's utter surprise, Xehanort grabbed him by the shirt collar and picked him up off his feet. Demyx let out a squeal of panic. Xehanort's teeth were bared and that insane look appeared back in his terrifying orange eyes. "You want to know your job? Here's your job, Demyx. I want you to find Cloud and tell him about this current predicament. Then I want you to go find that damn merman!" He threw Demyx to the ground and the mullet haired youth staggered to his feet. Demyx was panting from the panic attack he was just about to have and watched Xehanort smile at him and say kindly. "Happy hunting."

*****

Riku groaned tilting his head over to the side. His body was aching all over and he felt stuffy. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked them a few times. What he saw next confused him. He was in a nicely painted blue room. It was a slightly cluttered room with stuffed animals in one corner, a desk with a laptop, a T.V hung in the another corner, and a door leading to a balcony. Although, Riku didn't know what any of these objects were. This wasn't his prison and what on earth was he lying on? It was really soft and--Riku moved a little bit--sort of bouncy and he was covered with more soft things. They were blankets. He rubbed his head.

_Where am I? What happened last night? I remember floating on the water and then…nothing. I can't remember. Why do I feel so strange? _

Riku moved to sit up in the bed and as he did he noticed something different. His tail felt weird. It felt like it had split. He wondered if he had somehow ripped his tail in two. Riku went to remove the covers off of him.

_Why's my tail feel so—_

Riku pulled the covers back and instantly lost his train of thought. What he saw before him, he couldn't believe. He wouldn't believe it. It was impossible! He could feel panic flooding through his veins. He quickly threw the covers back over them. He tried to suppress himself from hyper ventilating by looking somewhere else in the room. His eyes darted left and right trying to make sense of what he had just seen.

_Easy, Riku…y—you're probably just imagining things. Heh heh heh…I bet if you look under this fluffy warm thing one more time it'll ease your doubts. Okay on the count of three. 1…2…3…_

Riku quickly threw the covers back again, determined that he would see that black and silver tail of his, but he saw no tail. What he saw instead was not a tail. He saw something else. He saw legs. Riku inhaled deeply and held his breath. A lump was forming in his throat. He tried desperately to hold it in, but the lump was growing bigger and bigger and rising up higher into his throat. Finally Riku couldn't hold it in any longer. He opened his mouth and…

Vera was lounging on the couch thinking about the events that had happened last night. She was home alone…well not really. Her dad had left for work early that morning. Vera smirked. _Won't he be in for a surprise? _Vera could hardly sleep last night because of what happened to Riku. _I don't understand. Everything was normal when I left him and now he's lost his tail and grown legs…I just don't understand. How is it possible? I wonder how he'll react._

Suddenly Vera heard a scream of bloody murder echo down the hallway. "Oh boy!" She jumped off the couch and dashed down the hallway. She was thankful her dad wasn't at the house otherwise they would have been screwed. Vera burst through her bedroom door to see Riku staring at his newly acquired legs. His face was pale as a ghost. "Riku?" Vera said blushing as she eyed Riku. He was still naked. Last night, she didn't have time to be embarrassed. Riku didn't seem to notice her. He was much too occupied with his new legs. The silver haired teen took his hands and placed one on each thigh. Then ever so slowly his hands began to slide down each bare leg examining the thighs, knees, shins, feet, and toes. Vera covered her face, but still couldn't help but peek through the slits of her fingers as she watched him well…touch himself. "Um, Riku?"

Finally Riku realized Vera was there. "V—Vera?" A tiny smile touched his lips, gave his legs a pat then looked down bashfully.

She giggled. "Yes, I know. You've certainly made quite a transformation. I don't know how you did it, but…wow! But hearing you freak out just now pretty much confirms you weren't expecting this."

The sight of Vera calmed Riku down tremendously. Her warm honey brown eyes were so gentle and comforting when gazing into his. She was kind and fair. Just looking at her made him want to melt into a puddle. _She rescued me. _Riku realized. _She actually came and rescued me from that terrible place and brought me here to her home._ Riku looked down at his legs and as he stared down at them a big grin appeared on his face. This was it. He was human now. This was his chance! This was his chance to be with Vera. He believed Vera would never truly love him as a merman, but as a human…he had a chance!

Excited, Riku moved his legs clumsily over the bed and stood up slowly. He held his arms out to either side of him to keep his balance as he threatened to fall over. _Humans do this walking thing all the time. It doesn't look that hard._ He thought. Riku took a step forward and then started to tether. He filled with panic trying to regain his balance. _Okay, maybe it is hard! Whoa! _Riku almost fell, but Vera caught him before he made a face plant to the floor. Vera had both arms wrapped around him to support his body. Riku's head had fallen against Vera's chest and up under her chin. They were frozen in that position for a moment. Riku could hear Vera's quick heartbeat. Vera listened to Riku's short breaths as they both just stood there. She could smell the ocean salt in his silver hair and she couldn't help, but rest her head on top of his.

"Careful now." She whispered.

Riku lifted his head up. He stared up at Vera from under his lashes blushing madly. Yeah, he had to do the stupidest thing and almost fall on his face looking like an idiot. He felt so ashamed of himself for failing the first time, but then he noticed Vera's face. She had a little smile on with a bit of pink touching her cheeks. She looked very cute like that. Vera thought Riku's face was quite adorable too. It wasn't everyday she got to hold a beautiful naked young man in her arms after all. Vera helped Riku stand up and took a look at him.

"We need to get you some clothes." She sat Riku back down on the bed. "Stay right there."

Vera went into her father's bedroom. She began looking in the back of his closet searching for something that would fit Riku. For once, she was glad her dad never threw anything away. He had outfits in his closet from high school. Vera picked out a black tank and some ripped up jeans.

"This should fit Riku perfectly."

Sure they were a bit worn out, but it would do for now. She started back to her room, but stop when she realized something. Riku had never worn clothes before. He was a merman. They didn't wear clothes. Which meant he wouldn't know how to dress himself which meant someone would have to show him which meant…it would have to be her. Vera's face felt like it was on fire. Dressing him was one thing. Being that close to his bare body was intoxicating enough, but actually showing him how to dress himself was another. She couldn't show him! She was a girl and she wasn't ready to show anybody what she looked like with her clothes off not even Riku. Also, since he was human now there were some manly things he would have to learn and Vera didn't know all the secrets. If only she had a close guy friend who could teach him.

_Oh God. What am I going to do?_

Right then somebody knocked on the door. Vera ran through the kitchen into the living room and cracked the door open. The person forced in their entrance and walked into the house. When Vera saw him she smiled. _Of course! Roxas, can help Riku. _"Roxas!" She said relieved.

He turned to her with his arms crossed. His face was set and determined to get some answers out of her. She was afraid of that. "I think you have some explaining to do." Without saying anything, Vera grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him towards her room. "Hey! Vera, let me go!" He complained.

"Look you've got to help me okay. Riku needs some assistance and he needs another guy to do it."

"What are you talking about?"

Vera stopped at her bedroom door. She cracked the door open and tossed the clothes onto the bed then shut the door back. Riku picked up the tank and jeans and looked at them curiously. _Hey, I know what these are…_

After shutting the door, Vera placed her hands on Roxas' shoulders. "I need you to teach Riku how to be a man."

"What?" Roxas laughed. "If he hasn't learned how to be a man by now I don't see any hope for him."

"Roxas!" She snapped then said in a gentler voice. "Please."

He sighed. "Okay. What is it you want me to do now?"

Vera laughed nervously. "Oh it's nothing really. Just… I need you to teach him how to dress himself."

Roxas' mouth dropped and he gave Vera the dirtiest of looks. She was afraid this would happen. "Oh hell no!" He said turning on his heels and waltzing back down the hallway. Vera ran and jumped in front of him blocking his path.

"Roxas please! Don't go." She pleaded.

"Why don't you dress him? It's not like you haven't seen the dude naked before."

Vera growled. "Because I'm a girl and it would be more appropriate if you helped him." She put on her puppy dog eyes hoping to make Roxas feel guilty. "If you do this for me I will totally be in your debt. I'll explain everything to you, okay?" Roxas didn't say anything and Vera gave him a sour look. "I'll pay you twenty bucks."

A smug smile crossed Roxas' face "Twenty-five…"

"Twenty-three." Vera held her hand out.

"Deal." Roxas said taking her hand.

They shook hands sealing their agreement. "I threw the clothes inside. Don't be mean to him, okay."

"What, that crap you were holding earlier? You're really going to make him wear that?"

Vera placed her hands on her hips. "It was either that or nothing. I don't have time to go shopping for him. Besides I'm grounded so I'm not allowed out of the house. Can you buy him something more stylish? I'll give you the money. I'd do it myself, but I'm stuck here."

"Yeah okay," Roxas started to open the door, but stopped. He looked over his shoulder at Vera. "What makes you think he'll let me dress him?"

She smiled. "He knows you from last night. Don't worry. He may not be able to talk, but he's not stupid Roxas. Go on."

"All right…." He poked his cousin with a finger. "But you better explain everything to me once I'm done."

"I will. I promise."

Roxas walked into Vera's bedroom and closed the door. Vera sighed feeling very relieved that she had finally gotten Roxas to cooperate. _He sure is a stubborn jackass sometimes._ She walked into the living and sat down on the couch waiting for the two boys to finish up. Vera sat there for a few minutes before she heard her bedroom door swing back open. She saw Roxas helping Riku walk down the hallway by supporting him by the arm.

"D—did he do okay?" She asked.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. Actually I'd say you underestimated him. He had his shirt, pants, and boxers already on when I walked in there. All I had to do was teach him how to buckle the belt."

"Oh." She smiled. "Well…I told you he wasn't stupid."

Roxas snorted dropping Riku down on the couch beside of Vera. Roxas sat down in the cushiony armchair across from where Vera and Riku sat. He rested one elbow on the arm of the chair while placing his fist on his cheek to prop his head up.

"The guy can't swim, the guy can't walk, and the guy can't talk. Wow, Vera you sure do know how to pick them."

Vera shook a fist at Roxas. "You better watch it."

"Right after you, answer this question. What the hell is going on here?"

Vera sighed. "Hm…where do I begin?"

So Vera told Roxas everything that had happened. She told about how Kairi had invited her to come with her and Selphie to the islet to hangout. She told him about while she was there she thought she saw a boy in the water looking at her, but the next second he was gone. She explained how she "fell" off the cliff and how she was rescued by a mysterious boy with silver hair and aquamarine eyes.

"What happened after that?" Roxas asked. He was really getting into the story which surprised Vera.

She shrugged. "He disappeared. I wondered where he was and what had happened to him after that, but dad wouldn't let me out of the house. But I never stopped thinking about him…"

Then Vera explained how Cloud was acting strange and working much later hours. "I went to go talk to him about it, so I went to the aquarium to confront him, but when I got there Tifa said he wasn't there, but he'd be back soon. So I decided I'd wait on him in his office. After a while I got extremely bored and decided to go explore. I hadn't been in the aquarium in so long and they had made some changes to it." She then told him about the brand new hallway that Vera had never seen before.

"All the doors were locked except for one…one was cracked open. Apparently someone had forgotten to lock it. I knew that it was off limits, but my curiosity got the best of me. So I went inside."

"And that's where you found the tank?" Roxas asked.

She nodded. "But there didn't seem to be anything inside it, but just knocking on the glass didn't satisfy me that nothing was there. So actually went inside it." She explained how she got inside the enclosure and poked around trying to see if anything was inside the tank. "I was about to give up when I saw bubbles!"

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Bubbles?"

"Bubbles. Now I knew something was inside the tank so I got on my hands and knees and looked into the water. Then I felt like someone was staring at me. I thought I had been caught, but when I went to turn around…." Vera trailed off.

"You saw Riku." Vera nodded, but didn't say anything more. Roxas leaned forward in his seat. "Why was Riku in the tank, Vera?"

After all that explaining, Vera didn't know if she could say it. I mean he'd think she was crazy, but she knew she'd have to tell him. She'd just have to hope and pray that he would believe her. "Because…" Vera said staring down at the floor. "Riku…he's not…not…human…"

Roxas stared at Vera a moment then cocked his head to the side. "What?"

Vera took a deep breath and folded her hands in her lap. She glanced over at Riku who sat beside her. Riku saw the worried look in her eyes. He wondered what was wrong. "Riku is….Riku's a merman, Roxas."

That sentence was followed by the longest silence that Vera had ever endured. Roxas sat stiffly in his seat. His eyes kept darting from Vera to Riku. Vera was still sitting with her hands folded in her lap. She could feel her palms starting to sweat. Riku could feel the tension of both Roxas and Vera, but most of it was coming from Roxas. Finally Vera said.

"You think I'm crazy don't you?"

Roxas swiped a hand down his face and sighed deeply. "No you're not crazy. I'm crazy."

Vera frowned confused. "Why are you crazy?"

"Because I believe you, Vera."

When she heard that Vera smiled. "Really? You do?"

He nodded with a grim smile. "You've never lied to me before. Sure you've avoided the truth sometimes, but you've never lied to me. Plus I can tell you mean what you say. I've never seen you look so serious and desperate in all my life." Roxas ruffled his hair then looked at Riku. "But I don't understand. Why can't he talk?"

"I don't know. He doesn't speak people I guess."

"You know you're sitting on a time bomb. When your dad finds out…"

"I know!" Vera snapped. "But what else was I suppose to do?" She looked at Riku. "Xehanort was torturing him. I couldn't just leave him there to die. He saved me and now it's my turn to help him."

"I Understand." There was another long silence as Roxas hung his head thinking. Once he finished, he gave Vera a firm nod. "Okay…I'll help you anyway I can."

Vera jumped up and hugged her cousin. She was squeezing him to death. "Thank you, Roxas. You don't know how much this means to mean."

"Can't…breathe…!" Roxas gasped.

Vera pulled away and ruffled his hair. "Sorry." She laughed. "Come here." She grabbed Roxas by the hand and made him sit down by Riku. "I'm going to introduce you to Riku formally." She sat down on the other side of the silver haired teen.

Riku glanced at the spiky haired kid then Vera. He felt SO cool, like he was a real teenage human sitting with his buds. Riku didn't know Roxas' name. Vera took Riku's hand and he grinned automatically lacing his fingers through hers. She blushed when he did this and giggled. She unlaced her fingers from his and took his wrist. "Not right now Riku."

Roxas wanted to gag. He couldn't believe Vera was getting so lovey dovey with a "merman" if he really was one. Although he did believe Vera, he really did. Roxas trusted Vera. He just didn't trust Riku. _Who knows what that guy has in mind for, Vera? What would a merman want from a human girl anyways?_ Roxas pondered. He for one was going to keep an eye on this guy. If Riku threatened to make one move on his cousin, he'd gouge his eyes out….okay so maybe he wouldn't get that violent, but he'd do something.

"Roxas, give me your hand." Vera said.

"Uh…okay." He hesitated before giving Vera his hand.

Vera took Riku's hand and placed it over Roxas' then looked at him face to face. She said slowly. "Roxas." She patted Roxas' hand with Riku's. "This is Roxas. My cousin. He's your friend too. Just like me."

_Oh God…_Roxas thought rolling his eyes.

Riku nodded to show that he understood. He turned to Roxas. "Roxas." He said perfectly.

"Yes!" Vera smiled. "Very good. You know for someone who's never talked before in their life, you speak great, doesn't he Roxas?"

Roxas was shocked that the guy didn't sound like a retard. He sounded like a natural born speaker. "Yeah, he really does. I never would have expected that."

Vera smiled at Riku as he stared down at the floor slightly blushing. "Riku's very intelligent. He probably knows so many things and I have no idea how to ask them."

"You're right, Vera. We need to find out more about Riku." Roxas said. "Merpeople in general. If Riku really is a merman then how in the world did he acquire legs? How did he become human?"

Vera was about to say something when she heard the Mickey Mouse theme song. Roxas reached into his pocket pulling out his cell phone. "Hold on a minute…hello? Hey, Axel!"

Axel was Roxas' best friend. He didn't go to high school with Vera and Roxas though, because he had already graduated. He was currently a freshman in collage and was in a frat house. So he got to go to all the coolest parties and stuff. He had invited Vera and Roxas on several occasions, but they had always declined. Roxas always said no because of the drinking and Vera always said no because Axel usually tried to make a move on her when he was drunk. Roxas continued to converse with his best friend.

"Just hanging out with my cuz….Yeah, it's Vera." Roxas pulled the phone away from his ear. "Axel said hi Vera."

"Tell him I said hey." She said dully.

Roxas placed the phone back to his ear. "She said hey…Lunch? No I'm not busy….what time?" Roxas eyed Vera a moment. "No…she's got things to do….um, she's baby sitting sort of…" Roxas lifted the phone away from his ear again. "Axel says that sucks."

Vera rolled her eyes and just went along with it. "Tell him I know."

Roxas got back on the phone. "She said she knows. So where did you want to eat at….Taco Bell again? Axel, you need to stop eating hot sauce….because you're going to give yourself gastritis….I won't sit here and let you destroy your intestines….fine….we'll eat at Pizza Hut, bye." Roxas snapped his phone close and stood up sticking his phone in his back pocket. "I've got to go, but I'll come by later. You know I might stop by the library and pick something up to see if we can find out more about…Riku's people."

"Okay." Vera said. Roxas was about to open the front door when she remembered something. "Oh wait!" Vera went through the house and grabbed her wallet. She came back into the living room and handed Roxas Twenty-three dollars. "Twenty-three bucks, just like I promised."

Roxas counted the money. "And here I was thinking you were going to forget."

"Roxas, while you're out do you think you can pick up some clothes for Riku?" Vera took all the money out of her wallet and extended it towards Roxas. Roxas was surprised that she was willing to spend so much money him. "Vera, that's over two hundred dollars!"

"I've been saving it for a while. I just never knew what to buy with it until now. Buy something nice for him to wear and anything else you think he might need." Vera glanced over at Riku who was still sitting on the couch gazing about the room. "Although I have no idea what size he'd wear."

"Medium." Roxas said immediately.

"What about shoes?"

"Fourteen."

"Are you sure? How the heck would you know?"

Roxas opened the door and took one step outside. "Vera, when you're a guy like me you have to know these things. See ya later."

"Okay. Bye." Vera shut the door behind Roxas and was once again left alone with her merman. Her use-to-be-merman. "Well," Vera said turning to Riku. "It's just you and me again."

_Finally, _Riku thought. _That Roxas kid is gone. Now I've got Vera all to myself…_


	8. Homesick

**Yeah, I finally updated. Why did I take so long? Well it was summer and I guess I just got carried away with being lazy lol. I have been working on this chapter forever and I finally decided to finish it. So here you go. Next update may come quicker, may not. Depends on my schedule. I've started collage so things are a bit hectic right now. Plus I've been doing a lot of volunteer work at my local animal shelter. Hope you understand. **

**Okay on to the story…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They belong to Square Enix and Disney.**

Roxas and Axel were sitting at a booth in Pizza Hut. The golden spiky haired boy was browsing his menu. The charming Axel was wearing a three quarter length dark green shirt and black jeans with a chain that had a chackram charm on it. He had his arm draped over the back of his chair slurping Big Red loudly from a straw. Roxas rolled his eyes lowering the menu down to glance at Axel.

"Could you stop? It's rather annoying." He said as he brought the menu back up to eye level.

Axel stopped placing his cup back on the table. "So," He started. "Roxas, you seem sort of quiet."

His ears began to turn red. "Quiet?"

"Yeah."

"It's nothing."

"Oh I think it's something."

Roxas didn't say anything. He continued to look at his menu. Was he really that easy to read? He prayed he wasn't showing any signs of apprehension or signs of deep thinking. He had had to refrain from pondering on Riku, but it was so hard! First of all how did a merman (supposedly) suddenly become a human? Even worse that merman was after his cousin. Being as close to Vera as a brother, this made him feel very protective of her. Vera trusted him, but he didn't. What were his true intentions?

"So spill," Axel said.

"W—what?" Roxas stuttered. "I don't know what you're talking about. Really I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No." He said firmly. "I don't."

Just then the waitress came by asking for their orders. Axel flirted a little bit with the waitress, but didn't get anywhere. They both ordered their usual meals and right when she left Axel went straight back to interrogating.

"Do I look stupid to you?"

Roxas crossed his arms and smirked knowing exactly what he was going to say. "No Axel. The only time you have ever looked stupid was when you got drunk and decided to go streaking across the collage campus." He said a little loud causing people to turn heads.

"Ssh!" Axel looked around. "Shut up. Okay I get it. Whatever."

"There's nothing going on."

"Okay fine. Whatever I don't care anyway." Axel folded his arms turning his head away from Roxas and began to pout.

Roxas began sipping his pop slowly through the straw. He knew that he would have to be careful around Axel. He wasn't stupid (he had said so himself) and he suspected Roxas was worried about something. Roxas just couldn't stop thinking about what would happen in the future. It was all very nerve wracking. After all they had stolen Riku from the aquarium. They would have noticed he was missing by now. What would they do? Would they know it was he and Vera who had come? Would they call the police? Would they come after him?!

Suddenly Roxas was sipping so fast that he sucked up an ice cube by accident and began coughing about to choke. Axel leaned over and gave him a hard pat on the back. Roxas coughed up the ice cube back into his glass.

"Thanks."

"No problem. How embarrassing would it be if you died from choking on an ice cube?"

Roxas smiled at him. "Yeah it would." He remembered Vera wanting him to buy some stuff for Riku. He knew he would have to tell Axel. "Hey Axel,"

Axel had been eyeing the waitress again. She looked at him and he winked and she responded by scoffing. He rolled his eyes turning to Roxas. "Huh?"

"Do you care if we go to the mall after this?"

"Of course not! That's where the girls are. We can pick you one up and finally get you laid, man."

"Axel…" Roxas grumbled lowering his head.

"It's okay." Axel leaned forward and whispered. "I haven't told anyone you're a virgin." He smiled.

"I don't want to go to the mall to pick up girls."

Axel stared at Roxas confused. "Then why the hell do you want to go?"

Roxas hesitated for moment scratching the back of his head. "I need…I need to go…shopping."

Axel stared at Roxas dumbfounded. "Shopping? You want to go shopping? Really?"

Roxas shrugged. "Well, yeah."

"Why?"

"To buy some new clothes." He said a little too quickly and Axel raised an eyebrow. "And stuff."

"Okay…"

"Do you mind?"

"No. I don't mind. It's just…"

"What?" Roxas said watching Axel intently. _Damn it! Why does he have to be so suspicious? _He thought.

"The other day you said you didn't like shopping."

"I…what?"

Axel sighed stretching his hands out in front of him and popping his fingers. "And I quote you from Monday." The red head faked a Roxas accent. "'Jeez I got to go pajama shopping for my mom. I hate shopping. It's so stupid.' End quote. Proof enough?"

Roxas laughed nervously. "I—I never said that."

"Yes you did and you know it. And do you want to know the scary part? Pajamas. Your mom. Freaky, man. Freaky."

"Why is that scary?"

Axel shrugged. "Depends on what kind of pajamas you were buying for her."

Roxas knew exactly what he meant and glared at him disgusted. "Axel,"

"Hm?"

"You're gross."

********************

Vera was showing Riku around the house, guiding him by the hand, catching him when he stumbled. She showed him a bunch of human utensils and objects and explained each of them. Whether he understood or not she didn't know. She hoped he was gaining some sort of understanding of humans. The way he reacted was simply adorable and it touched Vera.

These things fascinated Riku. In all his life he had never dreamed he would see such interesting and marvelous things. Each time Vera brought him to an object she told him the name of it and he repeated it perfectly expanding his human vocabulary. Vera led Riku over to the T.V.

"Now this," She picked up the remote and turned on the television. Riku jumped when he saw it come on. The room was filled with the sound of dramatic teenagers. The Real World was on.

_Dad was watching MTV last night? That's kind of scary. _Vera thought then turned her attention back to Riku.

"This is a T.V. This is where lazy human beings sit around and watch entertainment…if you can call it that."

Riku had never seen anything like this before. There were people stuck inside a tiny little box. It was crazy! Curious, the silver haired youth got down on his hands and knees and crawled over to the T.V carefully. Vera struggled to hold in a giggle. He was stalking it as if it was some kind of dangerous animal. Riku moved in slowly, careful not to disturb the tiny humans trapped inside. He moved up close to the T.V and knocked. The surface was hard and smooth. It reminded him of his prison back at the aquarium. Maybe these people were trapped. Riku wanted to save them. He raised his hand up to break it. Vera saw what he intended to do and gasped grabbing a hold of his arm.

"No! Riku, no. Do not break the T.V. Those people are supposed to be inside there." She said breathlessly.

Riku gave her a strange look almost as if he didn't believe her. Then he shrugged and went back to studying the T.V. He touched a finger to it and it shocked him!

Vera giggled. "Static. One of the many disadvantages of life on land."

Riku watched the little people inside the T.V. He listened to what they were saying and studied their movements. Vera crouched down beside him and saw his face. He looked mesmerized. She couldn't blame him though. He had never seen a T.V before. Vera showed him the buttons and pressed the one that changed the channel. It switched to another channel and Riku jumped again. "This changes the channel. There are many different things you can watch." Riku was looking at the remote in amazement. It was such a magical human thing. Vera handed Riku the remote and had a feeling she was going to regret it when she saw a little mischievous smirk appear on his face.

Riku took the remote and looked it over. There were so many buttons…so many buttons to press! Oh he'd have to press them all to see what they did. Riku's fingers went button smashing all over the remote. The T.V began changes channels at the speed of light. _Wow! So this is what humans do for fun. This is so cool. All the colors and people and the flashing. I could do this all day. _He thought with a big grin on his face.

Vera gasped when Riku started smashing all over the remote. She was very tempted to grab the remote away, but couldn't find it in her heart to do so. He was having so much fun. If the T.V remote was broken she'd tell her dad it was her. She was already grounded. What more could he do to her?

Suddenly Riku's fun stopped when he hit a channel that was loud, fuzzy, and black and white. The sound was so annoying and loud he had to cover his ears. He didn't like this. He stared at the T.V his eyes full of shock seeing what he had done. _Oh no. I broke it. I broke Vera's…color box people holder thing. _He hung his head in shame dropping the remote.

"Uh-oh." Vera picked up the remote and pressed a button. The fuzzy channel disappeared and was replaced by a soap opera.

A bitchy blonde haired girl was sobbing into the chest of a man with pink hair.

"Marluixa, please, don't leave me." She wailed.

"I am sorry, Larxene." Marluxia pushed her away gently. "But I can no longer be with you. It just doesn't feel right."

"B—but why?" She asked.

"Because, Larxene, I am…gay."

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Vera groaned. "Idiot. That was obvious from the first season. I can't believe this show is still running."

Riku looked from Vera to the T.V bewildered. "Some channels don't pick up T.V stations. That's why it did that." She told him. Riku still looked sad and she patted him on the back. "It's okay. You didn't break it." Vera heard something growl and saw Riku place a hand on his stomach.

"Oh. I guess you're hungry, huh? Well that's good because I'm hungry too." She gave a nervous laugh. "Let's see what I can find." Vera went into the kitchen and started digging around in the fridge.

_Now what the hell am I supposed to feed him? Does he eat fish? Seaweed? What? _

She looked over her shoulder. "Riku, what do you like to eat?" Riku stared her and she blushed turning back to the fridge.

_Right. Can't speak. Man, what if I give him something that would make him sick? I don't want to do that. _

Vera started sitting out stuff on the bar to get deeper into the refrigerator. Curious as to what she was doing Riku stood up, teetered a moment, and walked into the kitchen. Vera didn't hear him come in. He stuck his hand inside one of the boxes on the counter. He pulled out a golden brown stick.

_What's this?_ He sniffed it and the smell was very familiar. He was very surprised by the smell. _Fish? _Riku turned it over then back up. _It can't be. No way. That does not look like fish. Not at all. _The fish stick was cold and icy. _And why is it frozen? _Riku stomach growled again. He glanced at the fish stick and sighed. _Oh well. If this is how humans eat their fish I guess I need to go along with it… _

Vera turned around just as Riku stuck the cold hard fish stick in his mouth. She knew he was going to break his teeth off, but before she could say anything he bit right through it like a knife through hot butter. Vera stood there were her mouth hanging open watching him chew the fish stick like it was nothing. _Damn…he must like have really tough teeth._

_Hmm. _Riku thought swallowing. _It's not half bad. Reminds me of the fish up north that I ate once. Mm…frosty. _

"Y—you know you h—have to cook those first." Vera stuttered. Riku took another fish stick out and took a bite."Or not. Okay. I'm just going to make me a bowl of cereal." Vera went to the cabinet and took out a box of Coco Puffs. She glanced over her shoulder at Riku. He seemed to be enjoying himself. She poured her a bowl of her favorite cereal and sat down at the table.

**************

Cloud was feeling very stressed out. This morning he had been chewed out by his boss and worst of all, the merman had some how gone missing. Disappeared out of thin air. Personally he was glad it had escaped/rescued or however it got out. It no longer had to be tormented by Xehanort everyday. Then again Xehanort had threatened his job if he didn't find out a way to track down the merman or thief. Cloud was sitting in his office staring at a picture of his family. It was taken on the docks several years ago when Aerith was still alive. It was the first time they had taken Vera fishing. She was about six or five. He could remember her crying that she didn't want to fish because she didn't want to eat them.

"I don't want to eat a mommy or daddy fish because the little fishy would be sad." She had said.

He had told her calmly that they weren't going to eat the fish that they were going to just catch them and throw them back. After that she was okay with catching them. She wouldn't touch the worms so he had to bait her hook. He could remember her little face when her line jerked. He had to remove the fish from the hook because she squealed when she touched it. "It's so slimy!" He smiled when he thought of this.

And then there was Aerith, young and beautiful. He touched the image of her. "If only you could be here with us now." He sighed. "I suck as a father. I want to be there for Vera, but I don't know what to do or what to say. She resents me and I don't blame her. I know that she's unhappy. It's just every time I look into her eyes I can see you. I know I should embrace her, but…" Cloud cradled his head in his hands until he heard a knock at the door.

"Oh, Cloud." Demyx sung.

"What is it now Demyx?"

"Have you taken a look in the tank room yet?"

"No I haven't. Did you find anything?"

Demyx chuckled nervously. "Well…uh…no, but I'm sure you can find something." Cloud didn't say anything. "Just thought I would remind you." He heard Demyx walk down the hall.

"All right. I'll see what I can find." Cloud said. He got up from his desk and walked out of his office into the hallway. He made his way down to the merman's room and opened the door. Cloud entered through the back of the enclosure. The ground was a bit slippery so he was cautious of where he stepped. Vera's father took a good look around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was as if the room had always been empty. After he investigated a while Cloud shrugged his shoulders and headed toward the tank's exit when his eye caught something. The light had reflected off a shiny object. In the corner of the room between the glass and the concrete was a tool. Cloud crouched down and picked it up. He turned it over in his hands.

"Pliers? These shouldn't be here."

Cloud left the tank room and entered Xehanort's office. His boss was reading through a book. A very old book by the looks of it.

"Sir,"

Xehanort looked up from his book. "Find something?" Cloud walked up to Xehanort's desk and dropped the pliers there. Xehanort picked them up and studied them. "And you found this…?"

"In the merman's enclosure. I almost missed it. It was in a tight spot. I'm surprised I caught sight of it."

Xehanort rubbed his chin. "These would explain why the device we placed on the subject came off. Someone helped him get it off. I guess he didn't walk out alone after all." He stared back down at his book.

Cloud had to force himself not to roll his eyes. _He said that as if the merman could grow legs._ "So, someone is helping him?"

"It seems so." He flipped a page in his book. Cloud was curious and stretched his neck to see what he was looking at. Xehanort noticed this and met Cloud's gaze. "Yes?"

"I—what are you reading?"

"This?" Xehanort closed the book. The book was black and dingy. Some of the pages were hanging out and they were brownish yellow.

"Yes."

"It was a book written in the 19th century about mythology and things that we don't know quite understand. The author only made two copies, this one and the one there on the shelf."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming this is where you got your information on mermen."

Xehanort smiled. "Well it was very accurate. All the tests we conducted on the merman were to see if this man's words were correct and strangely they were."

"Oh I see." Cloud's eyes went to the other copy on the shelf.

"Take it."

Cloud turned to Xehanort surprised. "What?"

"Borrow the book. Read up on it. You may learn something. I promise you it's not boring."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, now go on. Take it with you."

"Well, thank you." Cloud picked the book out of the shelf.

"Do be careful with it though. It's very very old."

"Don't worry I will."

At the end of the day, Cloud was getting ready to leave work. For once he wanted to get home on time this week. He was very stressed and tired and all he wanted to do was get home and take a nap. On his way out of the front door he heard someone call his name.

"Wait up, Cloud." He turned to see Tifa catching up to him. He held in a sigh. It wasn't that he didn't like Tifa. As a matter of fact he really liked her. It was just after Aerith…he didn't have the heart to date anyone. Tifa brought back a lot of painful memories…just like Vera. She smiled at him. "I wanted to talk to you before you left. I haven't been able to get a hold of you for the past couple weeks."

"Hello, Tifa," He said a bit awkwardly. "How are you?"

"Fine. Just fine." She paused for a moment thinking up the right words to say. "I wanted to ask you something."

Cloud hesitated. "Go on,"

"Well," She tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "I was wondering if you…" Cloud raised his eyebrows. "If you'd like to go to dinner with me."

_Oh no, Tifa please. _Cloud thought desperately. He knew one day this would come and he couldn't say no. "Tifa…"

She blushed. "It doesn't mean anything. Just an outing nothing more."

He tried to think up an excuse. He knew that if he went on a date with Tifa (a part of him really wanted to go out with her), that it would bring up painful memories of Aerith and he wouldn't be able to stand that. Then he got a good idea how to avoid the outing. "I can't. Vera and I were going to do something together tomorrow."

"Oh." Tifa said sounding disappointed. "Well. I understand." She was quiet a moment then gasped. "I know! Why don't you bring Vera with you?"

"W—what?"

"Yeah. I think it would be fun. Besides I could get to know Vera a lot better. She seems like such a…" Tifa tried to think of something polite to say about her. "Interesting young lady."

"I…"

"Oh come on, Cloud." Tifa pleaded. "It's just dinner."

Cloud thought about it for a moment. _Well I suppose it would be all right. After all if I bring Vera along it wouldn't be a date…hopefully I can keep my mind off of her._ "Okay. What time?"

Tifa giggled. "Can you pick me up at 7:30?"

"Can't we just meet there?"

"No." She said quickly. "My car is…getting fixed. I've been riding the bus to work the past week."

"Oh I see." Cloud decided that he would be nice to Tifa. After all, she had always been kind to him and he needed to do the same. "I could drive you home if you li—"

"That would be great." She said before he finished.

"Um…okay. My car is this way."

***********

The day went by quickly for Vera and Riku. One minute Vera was helping Riku to get accustom to being a human and the next it was finally night fall. They were sitting on the couch while Riku watched T.V. Vera was very tired. She hadn't slept much the previous night due to rescuing her merman. It didn't help much either that she was lying on her side, but she couldn't hold her body up any longer. Pretty soon, her eyelids drooped and she had fallen asleep. Riku glanced over at Vera and saw that she was asleep. He smiled a little. She looked so peaceful. He figured she must have been really tired. Riku moved closer to her and leaned down to see her face. Her scent was intoxicating and he loved it. So badly he wanted to take her into his arms, but he was afraid he'd wake her…or worse she'd reject such affection. Riku brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

_Vera…if only I could tell you how I feel about you. _He thought. _I wish I could tell you how thankful I am that you've helped me._

As Riku began stroking Vera's hair he heard a knock at the front door followed by a familiar voice. "Vera? Vera? The door is locked." Riku felt the blood drain from his face. "I forgot to pick up the house key before I left. Vera?"

_Oh no. It's him. That spiky haired guy from the aquarium. If he sees me he'll definitely know who I am. _

Riku started shaking Vera to wake her up. She groaned. "Not now Riku…"

"Vera," He said and Vera could hear the panic in his voice.

She opened her eyes and saw that Riku was pale as a ghost. She sat up quickly. "What's wrong?" It didn't take long for her to receive an answer. There was another knock at the door.

"Vera! Come open the door."

"Oh shit." Her eyes widened and shot a glance at Riku and the door. "Dad, home, on time?" _Hm, well that's a first. _

"Vera, are you even home?!" Cloud's voice now sounded aggravated.

At first when Vera tried to speak nothing came out. She tried again and stuttered out. "Er….y—eah I'm home. J—just hold on a m—inute. I'll be r—right there." _Smooth Vera. Real smooth blubbering like an idiot. He won't suspect a thing. _Riku was surprised to see Vera smack herself in the head.

Cloud was silent for a moment. "Okay…hurry up." He rubbed his chin feeling a bit suspicious.

While Riku stared at the door wondering what was going to happen next, he suddenly felt a tug on his arm and was pulled down the hallway to Vera's room. "Hurry, Riku. Get in there." She said as she shoved him in and closed the door on him. "Stay in there and don't come out till I say so."

Riku placed his ear up against the door, but he didn't hear anything on the other side. _It seems like my senses are not what they used to be since my transformation into a human. _He thought as he pulled away from the door and turned to Vera's balcony. Outside was the ocean. With a few tries he opened the French doors and walked out into the fresh air. The silver haired boy stared down at the sea. The sun was setting making the waters look a lovely orange color. He watched as the waves crashed against the shore and retreated. Seeing all this, he realized how much he had truly missed the ocean. The sounds of the waves were just calling to him. He felt his body tense up. _I've got to get down to the ocean._ Before he knew it, Riku had himself perched on the rail of the balcony. Another part of his mind spoke to him. _Why? Vera wants you to stay here…I think. _Riku looked back out at the ocean again. _I don't know why. I just have to. I feel the need to. _He reconsidered what he was about to do when he looked down. It wasn't that far a jump, but to Riku it was pretty big. _Are you crazy? _He looked back at the ocean and sighed. _Yes I am. _Finally Riku pushed himself forward off the balcony and landed not too far below on his hands and knees. It was a bit painful, but wasn't too bad. He stood up shakily and almost collapsed, but he caught himself. Without hesitation he made his way towards the beach.

********

_Dad rarely comes in my room so Riku should be safe there. _Vera thought.

After making sure Riku was safe she ran back into the living room and opened the front door for Cloud. He came inside laying an old looking book down on the table and hung his coat up on the rack. "Why was the door locked?" He asked.

"I feel safer with it locked." She lied. "Are you okay?" Vera had noticed that Cloud looked very stressed out and tired. More so than usual. _Xehanort must have given him a hard time since they discovered Riku was missing._

Cloud rubbed his forehead. "Yes. I'm fine just tired. I had a rough day."

"When do you not?" Cloud chuckled when his daughter said this as he sat down on the couch. "Dad, did something happen at work?" Vera knew the answer to this question she just wanted to hear what her father was going to say.

"It's nothing."

"Really? Or are you just saying that?"

He sighed. "We've been having some problems…at the aquarium."

Vera hesitated. "The manatees?"

"Um, yes, the manatees…we are uh, missing one."

"I see." Vera started asking Cloud questions about this 'manatee' to see how well she did at rescuing Riku. "Did it just walk out?"

"No. Someone broke in and took it." Said Cloud sounding a bit annoyed at such a silly question. "I'd really rather not talk about it."

Vera shrugged even though she wanted to press the issue. "All right," She was getting ready to walk down the hallway when Cloud called her back.

"Vera, come sit down."

_Aw, crap. I'm in trouble aren't I? _The browned haired girl thought as she turned around. "Uh, okay." Vera sat down on the couch.

Cloud stared at her a moment and Vera felt blood rush into her cheeks. "Tifa has invited us to dinner for tomorrow night." His daughter was instantly dumbstruck when she heard this. She was completely speechless. "Vera?"

Vera rubbed a finger around inside her ear "What? I don't think I heard you right."

"I said we are going out to dinner tomorrow night with Tifa. She invited us."

The word "us" was something Cloud rarely said to his daughter. Vera just couldn't seem to get a hold of this. "To dinner with Tifa?"

"That's right." He raised an eyebrow. "Is it so hard to believe?"

_Yes. _"No." They didn't say anything for a minute. "Why do I have to come though?" Vera thought it was strange that Tifa would even consider inviting her. She clearly was only interested in Cloud not his broken family.

"Tifa invited you."

"Why?"

"She wants to get to know you better." _Yeah right. _She thought. "Won't that be nice?"

_No not really. _"Yeah I guess so…" She glanced down the hallway where she had left Riku. "Do I have to go though?"

"It would be rude if you didn't come."

_You always have the worst timing Dad. I can't leave Riku here by himself. _Vera tired to think of a way to get herself out of this situation. "I can't go."

Cloud closed his eyes. "And why not?"

"I…" She looked over her shoulder at the kitchen and smiled. "I'm cleaning the house tomorrow." Her father chuckled staring at her. Vera groaned. "I still have to go, don't I?"

"Yep." Cloud said as he got up out of his chair heading down the hallway. "Although I do fancy the idea of you cleaning house."

Vera's eyes followed her dad until he shut his bedroom door behind him. Once he was out of sight she hopped up off the couch and opened her bedroom door. "Hey, Riku, I'm back." She said, but as Vera scanned the area she realized her merman wasn't there. "Riku?" She noticed that the door to her balcony was open and ran outside. "Riku?" Her voice was starting to fill with panic. Vera looked over the rail to see footprints. "Oh no…oh please no."

She threw one of her legs over the rail. She dropped down to the sand and looked towards the ocean where the footprints led. _He's heading for the ocean._ Vera took off at a run to follow the prints. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest. She just hoped that he was safe.

_If he goes out into the ocean and starts to drown…_She gulped. Would she save him even if she had to go up against her biggest fear? _Yes. _She thought without hesitation. _I would save him just like he saved me. _

Out on the beach Vera saw something, a boy sitting on the sand staring out at the fading sunset. She gave a sigh of relief.

Riku turned his head to see Vera come up from behind him. He gave her a half hearted smile then settled his eyes back on the ocean. Concerned, Vera sat down beside him on the white sand.

"You scared me. You're not hurt are you from that fall?"

She cocked her head to the side to get a better look at him, but he didn't show any signs of being injured. Vera watched his eyes that were glued to the terrible sea. It hit her that Riku was acting a little depressed. She wanted to say something comforting like, Oh the ocean is so beautiful, Riku, but she couldn't. In her eyes the ocean was a monster waiting for petty prey to swallow and take to its bottomless depths where the victims would have a slow and painful death.

As Riku stared out over the ocean there was only one person he could think about, Sora, his best friend. He pondered and worried, praying that his "little brother" had gotten home safely. Hoping that the spiky haired boy wasn't planning some silly heroic mission to save him, for that would put Sora in peril, and besides, Riku wasn't in any danger now. Or at least he didn't think so. The orange eyed man was no where to be seen and in Vera's presence he felt safe.

It gave Vera a start when Riku got up and walked towards the water. She went to grab him, but he got just out of her reach and she tumbled to her stomach on the sand.

Riku felt the wet sand beneath his feet and sighed. _It feels like I've been away for an eternity. _

"Poor guy," Vera said to herself. "He must be really homesick."

Vera walked up behind Riku cautiously making sure not to startle him. Her feet touched the wet sand and she cringed.

_I hate everything about the ocean. The smell the, the sand, the wet. Well… _She glanced up at Riku. His silver hair was slightly blowing in the breeze. A small smile touched her lips. _Maybe not everything._ She thought.

"Riku," She placed a hand on the merman's shoulder. His muscles tensed up then slowly began to relax. Vera drew her hand away. "Er…I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. You must be really entranced by that ocean."

Riku turned his head towards her a little with a blank look on his face. Under this gaze, Vera felt like she was shrinking. Whether he was angry or sad, she couldn't tell.

_Did I say something wrong or did it sound mean? _

"We should probably get back," Even with that said, Riku continued to give her that look. "Before my dad finds out…are you okay? Whoa!"

Suddenly Riku pulled Vera into his arms and buried his head in her shoulder. A blush slowly crept up into her cheeks. For a moment she didn't know what was wrong with him, but then it hit her. "Riku," Vera reached around Riku and rubbed his back. "You really do miss home, don't you?"


	9. Just the Boys

Vera poked her head through the front door of her house. The living room was vacant and there were no sounds coming from the kitchen. Seeing that they were in the clear, Vera hurried Riku inside and led him to her room. She went straight over to her phone and dialed Roxas' number while Riku wandered over to the balcony. The girl made sure to keep an eye on him. After a few rings Roxas answered.

"Hello?"

Vera glanced at her clock. It was almost 6:30. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for your nappy time, Roxy-Poo?" She couldn't help herself she had to tease him about his bedtime.

Roxas let out a long sigh. "I don't go to bed till nine, and for your information, I set my own bedtime not my mom."

"Of course you do, Roxas." She spoke as if she was talking to a small child.

"You don't believe me do you?"

"Now whatever gave you that idea, silly cousin?"

Roxas was sounding irritated now. Vera could hear him breathing through the phone making it sound like it was full of static. He had a habit of getting his mouth too close to the phone when he got aggravated. "Okay. Did you just call to annoy me or do you want something?"

"Both,"

"Why am I not surprised?"

Vera started laughing. "You know, if you stopped getting so upset when I tease you I might not do it anymore."

"Why's that?"

"Because I like to hear you press your mouth to the phone and talk. You sound like an alien!"

"You're easily amused…" He tried not to laugh but he couldn't hold it in. Once they finished their fit of giggles they got serious. "So what is it?"

Vera looked over towards her balcony. Riku was leaning against the rail, still hypnotized by the ocean. His hair was slightly blowing in the breeze, his blue-green eyes were dreamy, and his body was relaxed. In this light, she could really admire how muscular he was and… how smooth his skin looked… he also looked very flexible… "Hello? You still there?" Roxas broke her out of her daydream.

Vera rubbed her temple, feeling a bit embarrassed by her own thoughts. "Y-yeah. Sorry. Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Yeah…" Roxas didn't sound very interested in telling her.

"Well, what?"

He sighed. "Is this something to do with Riku?"

The girl took in a deep breath. She was hoping she wouldn't have to make a big argument to persuade him to watch Riku. "Yes."

Roxas sighed again. "Okay. I'm listening." There was her cue. She'd have to explain what she needed him to do before he said anything else.

"Well, I'm going to this dinner with my dad tomorrow night." She said.

Roxas noticed her voice sounded dreary. "Isn't that a good thing? All you complain about at school is your dad not paying enough attention to you."

Vera got defensive. "I do not!"

"You do so."

"Roxas!" Vera was about to chew him out, but she took a deep breath and counted to ten to kill her anger. "The dinner would be great if it wasn't for one tiny detail."

"What's that?"

Vera slumped back on her bed. "Tifa,"

"Ah…" Roxas said in a dreamy voice.

She sat straight up in her bed with disgust on her face. "Eww, Roxas!"

"What? I said 'oh...'"

"You said 'ah…' like you were fantasizing." She scoffed.

"I did not!"

"You think she's hot, don't you."

Roxas was silent for a moment. "Uh, well, sure. She's pretty."

Vera stood up from her bed and began pacing around in circles. The phone cord was starting to tangle around her foot. "Probably just because of her huge rack, right? Boobs aren't everything Roxas."

"And this is coming from someone who stuffs their bra?"

Vera gasped taking a glance down at her chest. It was true. At one time she had stuffed her bra. Throughout middle school and freshman year she had stuffed her bra. This summer she had grown an inch and could finally fit into a bigger cup. So when she started sophomore year, she was stuffing free. Pushup bras really are a girl's best friend. Being a former bra stuffer was one thing she would always be ashamed of. _How did he know? Nobody should know that. I haven't told anybody that secret! _She thought. She could just imagine Roxas smirking over the phone. There was nothing she wanted more than to wrap her hands around his neck and watch him turn blue and purple.

"Oh yeah. I went there." He said.

"I don't stuff my bra… anymore." She wanted to scream so loud that it would make his ears bleed but she just swallowed and asked in a calm voice. "How long have you known?"

"Since last year. I saw some tissue paper coming out of your armpit when you came out of the bathroom at school. Stuffing your bra is bad but you could at least have been more professional. The thin school toilet paper just didn't pull it off--"

"Shut up! Just shut up right now!" She yelled.

Riku turned away from the balcony to look at Vera. The brunette was stomping around the room with a cord tangling around her body. By the look on her face he could tell she was aggravated. She sure was making a commotion on that toy she was playing with, a 'phone' she had called it. It had a lot of buttons… he'd have to tinker around with it later. He turned away from his alluring ocean home and walked back inside to Vera's room to stare at her with a confused look. She didn't notice.

"Ssh! Listen!" She said to Roxas. "That secret goes with you to your grave, do you hear me?"

"Hm… you know blackmail is a sweet sounding word, don't you think?"

"Roxas!"

"Kidding, I'm just kidding." He reassured her. "Can we get back on track about the dinner or date or whatever thing?"

"Yes, please!" Her voice was exasperated. "No more distractions. Stay on subject, okay?"

"Well, you started it."

"Grr…" Today it was hard for Vera to be patient with her cousin. He sure was getting on her nerves tonight. She was just about to hang up the phone and forget about asking him for help. Then she saw Riku looking at her. He looked worried. That face seemed to burn all her anger away. She'd have to let it go. "Okay whatever you say. Now, since I'm going on this outing I'm going to need you to watch Riku for me."

"But me and Axel were going to hang out and play video games tomorrow night!" He sounded nervous. "I can't have your fish boy here in my house! Really I can't!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Roxas. Riku won't do anything." She glanced over at her merman. "He'll probably just poke around the house is all, he's curious about human things. Teach him how to play video games or something. He would like that."

"What am I going to tell Axel?"

Vera stopped pacing and thought for a moment. Roxas had a good point. She got an idea. "I know. Tell him that he's a foreign exchange student from the Western Isles and he's still learning our language and he's shy."

"I don't know, Vera. Football slash video game night for me and Axel is really serious."

"Roxas please, I'm counting on you."

Roxas paused before replying. "Well, okay." He didn't sound very certain. "But Axel is really smart, what if he figures out I'm lying?"

"I doubt he'll guess he's a merman. Just relax. So can you do this for me? Please."

"Yes, I'll do it. I can give you the clothes I bought for him when you drop him off. Actually, Axel did most of the shopping for him. I told him the clothes were for me."

She raised an eyebrow and started pacing again. "I doubt Riku could wear your size."

"Well I switched the clothes size when Axel wasn't looking, so it's all good."

She smiled. "Thanks. I'll drop him off around four. That will give me time to get Riku to your house and for me to get back before dad gets home. Is that okay?"

"Sure."

"Okay, so I'll see you—Ack!"

Vera tripped over the phone cord and crashed onto her bedroom floor. Her receiver fell off the nightstand and hit the carpet with a "Bing" sound. Riku rushed over to her to see if she was hurt. "Ow…"

"Vera? You there?" Roxas' voice came out of the phone that was no longer in Vera's hand. It had slid out of her hand when she fell. She reached over for the phone and picked it up. "Y-yeah. Look, I've got to go. I'm in a bit of tangle at the moment."

"Uh, okay. Bye."

"Bye,"

Roxas hung up and Vera let the phone slip out of her hand and onto the floor. Now she'd have to get herself untangled out of the phone cord that was wrapped up around her legs and waist. She realized Riku was kneeling beside her with concern on his face. She smiled at him.

"I'm all right. I should have been paying attention to what I was doing."

Riku grabbed the phone cord around her feet and pulled it down over them so that she could stand up. When her feet were free, he took her by the hand and helped her to stand. Once she got her balance she spun around slowly while Riku unwound the cord around her. When they were done Riku knelt down and handed the phone and the receiver to Vera.

She smiled placing it back on her nightstand beside her lamp. "Thank you," then she yawned. Panicking about Riku missing and fussing with Roxas had made Vera forget just how tired she was. She went over and closed her French doors to her balcony then checked to make sure her bedroom door was locked. It wasn't likely that Cloud would walk in on her in the middle of the night, but she wanted to be careful. If Riku got discovered by her dad, he would take him back to the aquarium and since the merman had gain legs, no doubt he'd go through even more testing. Vera yawned again as she sat down on the bed. She could barely keep her eyes open. Before she could even think she was curling up on the bed and was asleep in a heartbeat.

Riku watched her and smiled. _I guess that means its time to sleep. _

At the end of the bed were the soft fuzzy things that Vera had called blankets. With gentle hands, Riku took the covers and pulled them up over Vera's body. She cuddled under them. He looked around the room for that flipper thingy that turned the lights off. The light switch was by her door. He flipped the switch and then the light within the room was suddenly gone! Riku chuckled and flipped the switch again and the light came back on.

_That is so cool. _He thought. _It's like magic!_

For fun, Riku flipped the switch on and off really fast. The light flashed several times then there was a pop sound and the light died out. Riku flipped the switch up and down but the light wouldn't come back on.

_Hm… I guess it's tired too. _

Riku walked over to the opposite side of the bed and sat down. Vera was lying on her side facing him. He swung his feet over onto the bed, placed his hands behind his head, and stared up at the ceiling waiting for sleep to take him. The only problem was he wasn't very sleepy. What would Sora tell him to do?

"_Try counting dolphins."_

Riku smiled at that thought. That's exactly what Sora would say. He tried counting dolphins, but as always that never worked for him. It just seemed to keep him awake. For an hour he laid there doing nothing until Vera stirred. He turned his head over to look at her. She had tousled her ponytail and the tie now hung very loosely. Very carefully, Riku reached over and tucked a strand of hair away from her face. To his surprise, Vera groaned, and for a moment he thought that he had hurt her, but she smiled. The next thing he knew she threw her arm over his chest and snuggled up next to him. Riku began turning beat red. Now how could he sleep? She was so close. Her breathing was soft and deep. His stomach was full of butterflies and his skin tingled. So badly he wanted to cradle her in his arms and tell her how he felt. Vera shifted again and moved her head on to his shoulder. His heart was pounding so hard now he thought that the sound of the pounding would wake Vera up. For a few moments he laid as still as he could. Then Vera started to talk in her sleep.

"Dad… don't go after her… it'll take… you too…"

Riku didn't know what she meant because he couldn't understand her. _Just relax._ He took a deep breath then released it. After a few minutes his tense muscles released and he felt more comfortable with Vera beside him. Being very careful, he placed his arm around her. Touching her warm skin sent fire through his veins and he felt excited all over again. Although the feeling kept him awake, he had to admit that he liked it. He loved the way Vera made him feel all giddy, happy, and high at the same time. The feeling was like a drug that clouded all his senses. Did she have the same feeling when she was around him or did she feel anything? He liked to think that she did, but he had no idea if that was true or not.

Right now, he really wished he had Sora to talk to so he could tell him what to do. What would Sora say? His voice rang through Riku's mind.

"_Blue spotted butterfly fish."_

His favorite fish to eat, he could think about that to help him get to sleep. For a while he thought about his favorite fish. How to catch them, their color variations, common areas they inhabited, and how many he had caught in his lifetime. They were the best little delicacies. They had a unique taste, their bones were easy to get down and didn't get stuck in your teeth very often, and their scales weren't too slimy. Riku closed his eyes and fell asleep in no time.

************

It was late into the night, and Xehanort was still in his office at the aquarium. He sat at his desk reading the book on merpeople. It was possible that something in this book would give him a clue to what his merman would be doing. If the book was correct, the boy would no longer have fins, but legs after the full moon. The day he went missing was after the full moon. Xehanort was certain that the merman was of age to start his transformation. If only he had read into this book further. Then he could have kept a closer eye on the merman to see if he really did turn human. If he had read through that last chapter faster, he would have known. The merman just got lucky. One thing that puzzled him though was that the book did not explain the purpose for this transformation. Was it supposed to be obvious? Could there be a page missing? He couldn't see any sign of a page being ripped out, then again the book was so worn it was hard to tell.

Tired of reading, Xehanort closed the book and picked up the pliers that Cloud had found in the merman's enclosure. He examined them for a little while, opening and closing them. When he opened them again he noticed something. It was very small and hard to see. Xehanort moved the pliers under the lamp on his desk. Wrapped around the tiny bolt that kept the handles together, was a tiny hair sticking out. With gentle care, he plucked the small hair out and examined it. By its color, Xehanort knew that it wasn't the merman's. So the merman did have some help to escape. If he could find out who the hair belonged to, then maybe he could find the merman. Whoever had helped him must have dark hair. That narrowed it down a little, but there were a bunch of people on the islands with black or brown hair. Xehanort thought tapping his fingers on the desk. The only way into the merman's enclosure was by using the access card. Only Cloud, Demyx, and he had one. Without a card key there was no way inside the tank room. If that was the case, then how did the merman's accomplice get inside? Unless they had stolen a card key there was no way.

The orange eyed man leaned back in his chair and sighed. It was late and he needed a break from thinking. He'd have to wrack his brain on this some more later. Perhaps tomorrow he would just take it easy. Go out and get some fresh air, maybe have a nice evening dinner. Yes, that sounded great. That's exactly what he would do.

********

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. Some seagulls were just taking flight to hunt down their breakfast. One of the gulls strayed away from the flock and landed on the rail of the Strife's balcony. It started squawking a horrible sound waking Vera out of her sleep. She opened her eyes then closed them back groaning.

_Stupid bird. What does it think its doing? Is it trying to act like a rooster? _The girl snuggled deeper under the covers. _It's still the weekend so I'm staying right here. My bed is so nice and warm and… _Her hand was on something that didn't feel like the mattress. It was firm but it was cozy and she liked it a lot. She moved her hand down a little and poked it. Riku started laughing when she poked his stomach. It tickled. Vera's eyes snapped open when she heard him. There she was lying right beside Riku… snuggled up to him… was one of her legs wrapped around his? Her cheeks started turning red and she sat up quickly. She had been so tired last night that she didn't think about going into the living room to sleep on the couch. She couldn't turn around to look at the young merman.

_I bet I kept him up all night. I must have driven him crazy. Kairi always said I was the worst bed buddy at a sleepover. I always have to grab and snuggle up to something…_

"Well, um," Vera threw the covers off of her and got up out of the bed. "I better get dressed." She glanced at Riku and saw him smiling at her. With the sun shining on him through the windows it made him look like an angel. He was so perfect. Honestly she wanted to crawl back into bed with him. She imagined him putting his arm around her, giving her a sweet kiss on the cheek, and then they would cuddle under the covers and sleep into the late hours of the day. For a moment the teenage girl stood there with a goofy grin.

The young merman watched her with curious eyes. Vera stood there smiling while she stared blankly into space. Riku titled his head to the side then looked around the room. _Is she looking at something? _

Vera shook her head to erase the image from her mind. She caught Riku staring at her and her face started heating up again. _He must think I'm idiot. Why do I have to act so stupid around him?_

She went to her closet. It was small and crowded. A few old toys from her younger years fell down on top of her head when she opened the door. She picked out an outfit to wear for the day then put her old things back in the closet. Before she shut the door she stepped on something that squeaked. It was an old rubber duck she had played with when she was little. She picked it up and smiled.

"Sorry Mr. Quackers. You have to go back in the closet."

After Mr. Quakers was safe and sound in the closet Vera walked over back towards her bed with her clothes and as she did so she caught a glance at herself in the mirror on her bedroom door. She did not like what she saw. Her hands immediately went to her head. During the night she had messed up her hair. There wasn't a spot on her head that wasn't covered with frizzes. Vera tried her best to quickly smooth her hair down but it was no use. What she hated was that Riku had seen her like this. She never looked good in the mornings. It was so embarrassing. She looked in the mirror again and saw something else. On her forehead she saw a tiny red irritated spot. She covered the zit quickly with her hand. Something else she had forgotten to do last night was to wash her face. If she didn't wash it every night she broke out in pimples. There were a few ways to get rid of zits but the quickest Vera knew was to pop it. She didn't want to do that. She was a baby when it came to popping something as simple a zit.

_I need to take a shower. It'll fix my hair and then I think of how to take care of the zit. _She thought as she turned to look at Riku.

He was just starting to get out of the bed. When his feet touched the floor he stood up, teetered for a second, but quickly caught his balance.

"Riku," She said. The silver haired teen looked at her. "I've got to go take a shower so, um," She thought of what he could do while he waited for her. Vera had an idea but she would have to make sure her dad was gone. She ran down the hallway and looked in her dad's room. Cloud wasn't there. She called his name but he didn't answer. So he had to be at work. Vera returned to her room and finished her sentence. "You can watch TV. I know you like that." Riku followed her to the living room and sat down on the couch. Vera turned on the TV for him then went to go take a shower.

She couldn't remember the last time she had cleaned up so well for a boy. Riku was the only person who made her want to put on makeup and frilly dresses. Usually she could care less about how she looked. As long as she was comfortable she was as happy. Not anymore. Riku had caused everything in Vera's mind to turn around. After Vera finished getting dressed she watched TV with Riku for the rest of the day. Riku stared at the TV with a slight frown on his face the whole time. It was like he was concentrating. Every once in a while, Vera noticed him mouthing words or muttering under his breath, she couldn't figure out what he was doing.

Finally the time came for Vera to take Riku to Roxas' house. They had a nice quiet walk to her cousin's house. It was very peaceful. The path they took was on the beach and Vera made sure to keep her distance from the ocean. Riku on the other hand would step one foot into the wet sand every time a wave rolled in. When they made it to Roxas' house Vera knocked on the door. She could hear shuffling behind the door and in no time her blue eyed cousin was standing at the door.

"Hi, Roxas." She said.

"Hi, Vera," He nodded to the merman. "Riku," Roxas opened the door wider to let his two visitors in.

Vera looked around the room. It had been a while since she had been inside her cousin's house. She noticed that the living room was a different color and the furniture had been rearranged. It had a safari theme going on. Riku's eyes scanned the whole room. There were so many human things for him to examine.

"I like what you've done with the place." Vera said. "I'm glad your mom decided to get rid of that old periwinkle wallpaper. It was hideous."

Roxas didn't seem to hear her. He was walking down the hall and went through the last door on the right. They could hear him rummaging around in there. "Tell Riku to come in here. I'll give him his clothes."

"Okay," She called back. Vera turned to Riku. His aquamarine eyes were full of curiosity. This new human territory was like a whole new playground. The look on his face made her smile. Vera took his hand to get his attention. His skin was so soft and smooth. Touching him sent tingles down her spine and her heart started pumping double time. She pointed down the hallway where Roxas was. "Follow Roxas." Riku stared at her a moment then nodded slowly. Vera watched him go down the corridor and step into Roxas' room.

Vera took a seat on the couch and waited. When she heard them come out of the room she stood up and froze when she saw Riku. The ratty old clothes he was wearing before were no longer on his body. Her eyes scanned him from the bottom up. He was wearing some sneakers with black stripes on each side. His pants were a dark color almost purple and the pockets were a lighter color. Around his waist was a black studded belt. His torso was dressed in two vests. One was black and the one over it was white and yellow with a blue stripe around the bottom. Vera was stunned. Riku looked so dashing. At first she couldn't speak but finally managed to form the words.

"A-Axel has g-good taste."

Roxas nodded. "And now Riku looks like an average normal teenager." Roxas looked Riku up and down. There was nothing average about him really. "Well as normal as he can look."

"You look great, Riku!" Vera said as she walked up to him. Riku loved the look on her face. He was so proud that Vera was pleased with him. Roxas jumped in between them.

"All right, all right, no lovey dovey crap."

Vera rolled her eyes then looked up at the clock. She sighed. She didn't want to leave so soon. "I have to go. Call my cell if there's an emergency. You know the number." She looked at the merman. "Riku I need you to stay with Roxas for a little while. I'll be back in a few hours. Trust me I wouldn't leave you here." Roxas snorted. She wanted to go hug Riku before she left but she had feeling that Roxas wouldn't let her and she wasn't in the mood to fight with him. Why did he have to act like an over protective brother when it came to guys? "Bye Riku." She turned to Roxas. "Make sure he doesn't learn any of your Neanderthal habits. That includes Axel too."

"He'll be fine. Now go before your dad catches you out of the house."

She walked out the door then looked back at Riku. "Bye Riku, I'll be back I promise--"

"Yeah, yeah goodbye, Vera." Roxas shut the door on her and turned to Riku. "Women. They never shut up."

Roxas flopped down on the couch and turned the TV on. Riku sat down beside him. The merman didn't like it that had Vera left. He still wasn't sure if he could trust this Roxas. For a long time there was silence. Both of the boys kept their eyes on the color box. Finally the golden haired boy decided to break the silence.

"So, Riku. You're a merman." Riku continued to watch the TV. He seemed to be concentrating. "Must be pretty cool. Swimming, water, mermaids." He elbowed the young merman. "Mermaids must be pretty sweet, huh? I've got a question. Do they wear seashell bikini tops or do they go topless?" Riku just shook his head. There were a few words he identified and could make sense of but the rest were just random noises to him. "Oh right. You don't understand what I'm saying. Never mind then."

It wasn't much later when the front door opened. Axel walked in with a pizza box and a crate of sodas. "Sup, Roxas?"

"Hey, Axel!"

The redhead went into the white tiled kitchen and sat the pop and pizza down on the counter. "I brought some food to chow down on."

Roxas got up off the couch. "What? No strippers?"

Axel scratched the back of his head with a smirk growing on his lips. "I thought about it, but I didn't want to bother your mom on a weekend."

Roxas grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at Axel. "Shut up!" Laughing, Axel quickly ducked behind the counter to dodge the fluffy object. It landed in the sink with the dirty dishes. "Oh crap!"

"Ew."

"Well don't just let it sit there!"

Axel grabbed the soaked pillow and held it as far away from his body as he could. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"Uh, throw it outside?"

"You got it." Axel opened the kitchen window and chucked the pillow out the window.

"Axel!"

"What? You told me to."

"I was joking."

"Too late now. That sucker is gone."

The younger boy groaned. "I'll go get it later. I'm too tired to go walk down the hill."

Interested in what all the commotion was about, Riku turned his eyes away from the TV and stood up to look at the new comer. Axel noticed him and walked back into the living room. He wasn't aware that Roxas was inviting others.

"Who's your friend, Roxas?"

Right when Axel mentioned the boy, Roxas started getting jittery. "Uh, um,"

While his best friend was muttering Axel examined Riku. The new boy had long silver hair and blue green eyes. He wore a nice outfit. It kind of looked familiar.

"Roxas?"

The nervous boy grabbed Riku by the arm and brought him around the sofa to introduce to Axel. "Axel t-this is Riku. He's an exchange student from, uh," It took Roxas a second to remember what Vera had told him to say. "The Western Isles! Yeah!"

Axel frowned. Something was really fishy here, more than he knew. "Is he staying with you?"

"Oh n-no, he's staying with Vera. She had an important dinner tonight with her dad and s-so I invited him here to hangout."

"I see."

Riku looked from Roxas to Axel and to Roxas again. _What is Roxas doing? Is he joking around? It's hard to tell. Maybe male humans act differently around each other. Should I act like Roxas? I'd rather not. _

Roxas could tell Axel didn't like this. That only made him more anxious. "You don't mind, do you? I know Sunday is our night for the, uh, 'The Show'."

Axel thought for a moment. "The Show" they watched every Sunday night was a secret to all. If anyone found out what they watched it would be so embarrassing. "Does he watch it too?"

"Er… yeah. He watches it too. Oh, and he is really really really like super duper shy like he won't speak at all." Roxas looked Riku in the eye and said again. "Won't speak." he turned his attention back to Axel "I-it's like a freakin miracle if he does." Axel took a step back giving his friend a strange look. He was almost hysterically crazy about this. It was very weird. "Oh, and he's still l-learning our language so i-if he ever does say something-- which he won't—no one will understand it."

There was a short awkward silence. Roxas felt sweaty so he went over and opened a window to let some cool air in.

"Wow, Roxas." Axel said. "You've done at lot of weird things but I think this tops the list. Or at least the top three."

Roxas gulped and laughed nervously. "Weird? I'm not being weird. I'm just, uh, excited to see the new episode of All My--."

"Don't say it!" The older boy snapped.

"I mean 'The Show'."

Axel stared at Riku a minute. There was no doubt he was suspicious of Roxas' story. "Who is this guy really?"

_Oh man, I knew this wouldn't work. He knows something funny is going on._ Roxas thought.

"I told you who he was. His name is Riku and he's staying with Vera. It's as simple as that."

"Well… okay." Axel smiled and held his hand out to shake Riku's. "Hey there, Riku, I'm Axel. It's nice to meet another fan."

Riku didn't respond. He only stared at Axel's extended hand. Axel raised his eyebrows when Riku cocked his head to the side to see under his hand thinking he was trying to show him something.

Roxas quickly smacked the back of Riku's head. Surprised by the hit, the boy's head snapped back up. When Roxas caught the merman glaring at him he smiled and patted his back muttering an apology. Vera's cousin had never had Riku look at him that way, and he had to admit it was very uncomfortable.

"Sorry, Axel." Roxas said. "He doesn't, uh, he doesn't believe in physical contact with someone he just met."

"Er, okay." Axel took his hand back. "But all the same nice to meet you. So, Roxas, you got the DVR ready?"

Roxas went over to the TV and let out a silent sigh glad that the awkward introductions were over. "Yeah, I recorded the show yesterday."

"Can I bring the pizza into the living room?" Axel asked.

Roxas shrugged. "Sure. Just don't get anything on the carpet."

Axel grabbed the pizza and the cans of pop and sat them down on the oak coffee table that was between the sofa and the television. Once Roxas got the DVR set up he sat down in one of the tan armchairs near the sofa. Axel had already stretched out on the couch eating a slice of pizza. Roxas leaned forward and grabbed himself a slice.

For a minute Riku just watched the two boys eat the strange triangular shapes. The smell coming from the human food was odd, but he figured he should at least try it. He opened the pizza box and carefully took away a triangle away from the human food circle thingy then he searched for a place to sit down.

"Here Riku, I won't hog the couch." Axel said as he sat up and scooted to the right side of the couch.

The young merman hesitated, but sat down on the left side of the couch farthest from the redhead. He had no idea who the guy was, but he assumed he and Roxas had some kind of friendship. He thought that his name could be a series of different words. Roxas didn't exactly break anything down for him like Vera did, although he was catching on to some of their words from learning from the television and listening to Vera speak.

He lifted the pizza to his mouth and stopped. To Riku it was a strange stench, but he was determined. If this was what humans ate then he would have to get use to it. Riku took a small bite and chewed. The taste was so exotic. All his life he had eaten nothing but fish. This was new. Spicy, cheesy, crusty, greasy, it was different. And he could live without it. Riku covered his mouth. So badly he wanted spit it out. He could feel himself starting to gag, but he forced himself to swallow.

_If that's what all human food tastes like then I'll just stick to fish. _He thought.

Although the pizza had made him sick he was still hungry. If only he could find some fish or scallops to eat, heck he'd settle with krill or shrimp which he hated.

"All right it's on!"

Roxas scooted to the edge of his chair to stare at the TV and Axel did the same. Riku had no idea what was happening but he assumed it was good. After all, the two boys looked excited. Riku sat on the edge of his seat like the others and slouched over to rest his elbows on his knees.

Words appeared on the screen with a pretty white background. "Last time on All My Organized Confessions," The scene changed. There was green eyed blonde haired girl and a pink haired man. It looked very familiar then he remembered that he had seen this scene yesterday with Vera. "Marluxia has finally come out of the closet, and has expressed his love to Marco. Sadly this has left Larxene heartbroken and now she is out for revenge, with help from the gangbanger Lexeaus, the wicked blonde is out to kill Marluxia and his new lover."

"I knew it all along!" Axel exclaimed.

"I know Axel, you freaked out when we watched the last episode. I bet she starts dating Lexeaus." Roxas said.

"Nah, I bet he'll get shot in a drive-by or get his head busted by his own hammer." Axel leaned back on the couch folding his arms behind his head. "Then Larxene will probably start copying Vera's way of coping—oops!"

When Axel said this Roxas sighed. He knew what Vera did to herself sometimes. When she started wearing those rubber bracelets he thought it was just a trend she was trying to set, but then she added more and more and it was obvious to Roxas that she was hiding something. He wasn't the only one who knew. Axel had figured it out too. As for Kairi and Selphie he had no idea if they noticed. Surely if they had they would have done something crazy like an intervention. It was stupid. He couldn't understand why she did crap like that to herself. Axel said she probably just wanted attention from Cloud, and though he agreed he thought there was more to it than that.

"Sorry," Axel quickly added. "I shouldn't have said that. It slipped out."

The blue eyed boy shook his head. He wasn't mad. It wasn't like he was lying. Besides Axel was impulsive with just about everything and he was one of those people you had to be patient with. Axel sat up to look Roxas in the eyes. "I really didn't mean anything by it, man."

He could tell that he meant it. "It's okay. Let's not talk about it though."

"Might make you feel better."

"Nah,"

Axel respected his wishes and leaned back on the sofa. "So… think Larxene will get her way. There she is! Slinking around the alleys, the witch."

Then they started watching the show, predicting what was going to happen and trying to figure out what the leading lady was going to do to get revenge against her Ex-boyfriend.

Riku watched the actors with great interest. He was muttering under his breath each time an actor spoke. His eyes were glued to the TV. Their language was making more since to him. The sounds were starting to connect and mean something more.

Axel glanced over and noticed the way he was acting. It was kind of weird. It was like he had hardly ever been around a TV. He scooted over an inch away from the silver haired teen.

After a while, Riku's hunger began bothering him again. He definitely wasn't going to try the pizza again. There was no doubt in his mind if he did, he would throw up. The merman needed something fishy. He got up off the couch and wandered out through Roxas' living room.

Roxas glanced at him then turned back to the soap opera. Vera had said he would poke around. Under normal circumstances he probably would have trailed him through the house so he wouldn't break something, but the show was just starting to get good. He couldn't leave to go babysit his cousin's fish boy right now.

Riku went into the kitchen and opened the cold food box thing Vera had called a "refrigerator". There was nothing in there he could recognize as the frozen fish sticks. Closing the refrigerator door, he walked down the hallway, peering inside each room he came across. There were some interesting objects inside some of them but he was too hungry to care about fiddling with them. Riku wandered into the room Roxas had taken him to get his new clothes. Before Roxas had rushed him to get his clothes on so he didn't have the chance to investigate it earlier. It was a small room, but it was more organized than Vera's crowded space. Roxas didn't have a balcony like Vera's, but a big window that looked over the sea. Unable to resist his urge to pilfer through the room he began to examine all the objects he could find.

There was something in between the mattress of Roxas' bed. It was some kind of slick shiny paper. Riku pulled on it and at first it wouldn't budge. He pulled harder and as a result not one but three objects slid out from under the mattress. Two of the objects fell to the floor and Riku had a hold of the other one. They were magazines and they all had pretty girls on the front cover.

_Huh. Wonder what theses are. _

He opened the magazine. When Riku saw what was inside he blushed beat red and dropped the magazine like it had suddenly burst into flames. It was a book full of beautiful human girls… and they were all naked.

Riku slid a hand over his face and looked in another corner of the room. _That was odd. _

There was a little splash somewhere in the room. Riku turned to the sound. Up on a shelf above Roxas' bed, was a clear globe of water and inside was a tiny little fish. The merman smiled. He'd finally found something eatable. Carefully, he got onto the bed and stood up. It was much harder to stand on the bed than it was the ground and it took Riku a minute to keep his balance. When he finally managed to stay up straight, he reached up for the bowl and brought it off the shelf. He got back onto the floor and examined the fish. It was really small, but he didn't care. He was just excited to eat a fresh fish.

Axel and Roxas were still in the living room watching their soap opera.

"Hey, where's the new kid?" Axel asked.

Roxas shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sure he's fine." He re thought that. Maybe the merman was fine, but his stuff... Roxas stood up from his chair. "Actually I think I'm going to go check on him." He went down the hallway and looked in each room, but Riku wasn't there. Since his room was the last room he hadn't looked he knew Riku had to be inside.

"Riku?" He opened the door.

Roxas gasped when he saw him, his eyes growing as big as saucers. Riku's head was dripping wet. There was an empty fish bowel in his hands. His cheeks were full and between his lips was a tiny orange fin.

"No!" Roxas yelled. "Goldie!" He ran up to Riku and grabbed him by the face before the merman could blink. "Spit it out!" Riku quickly shook his head. "I said spit it out!" Roxas squished his cheeks together with his hands to try and get him to give up the fish. When he did this it forced Riku to spit out the water he had in his mouth right into Roxas' face.

"EWW!" The blue eyed boy jumped back wiping his face. "That's disgusting, you sicko!" Riku chuckled at Roxas reaction. Roxas moved his hands away from his face and glared at him. This boy was evil, he was convinced. Riku hadn't spit Goldie out, but he could tell she was still in the merman's mouth. He wasn't going to let this freak eat his fish without a fight. It had sentimental value. "Give me back the fish Riku!"

Riku knew what Roxas wanted. He wanted him to give up his little snack. He didn't have to be able to understand human language to see that. Well Riku had no intention of giving up the fish. To him fish was prey and only prey. He was a hunter and the hunter eats the prey. That's just how it works. Riku just shook his head.

That was it. Roxas wasn't going to wait any longer. He'd have to force this freak to give him back his pet. "That's it!" Roxas tackled Riku to the ground.

In the living room, Axel was still watching the soap opera. Suddenly he heard a big bang through the back of the house. He frowned and looked over his shoulder down the hallway. He was about to call to them, but changed his mind.

_I don't even want to know. _He thought.

Roxas had wrestled Riku to the ground, but he didn't keep him down for long. Riku was strong. Really strong and it surprised Roxas just how tough he was. With all his might he tried to keep him pinned down, but Riku pushed him off with ease. It was like Roxas weighed nothing to him. As he stood up, Riku wobbled a bit. That was his weakness, his balance. Roxas caught him around the leg and pulled to trip him. Riku yelped and crashed to the ground. The fish popped out of his mouth and Roxas quickly clambered over Riku and grabbed the fish before he could get it.

"Ha ha ha! Gotcha!"

Riku closed his eyes and groaned. If it hadn't been for being tripped he would have won this battle. If Sora ever found out he had lost a fight over a fish, he'd never let him live it down. He knew he should have swallowed it before Roxas had the chance to stop him, but liked to savor the taste of his meal. Man, he had really wanted to eat that fish.

**************

"…. That's quiet interesting." Cloud said to Tifa when she finished explaining her hobbies.

The dinner wasn't as bad as Vera thought it was going to be. Tifa was actually kind of cool… but she still didn't like her. Sure she was being nice to Vera, but it was only to get at her at dad, right? Vera wasn't sure about Tifa anymore. This dinner had sort of changed her perspective of her.

Tifa did most of the talking. Cloud listened, asked her a question every once in a while, and answered her questions. It was shocking to Vera. She hadn't heard her dad talk this much in she didn't know how long. Vera tried to listen in on the conversation. Every time she started listening her mind would wander off to other things. An image of a smiling Riku formed in her head. Just thinking about it made her heart beat faster and she wanted to giggle. It seemed that thoughts of Riku could consume her mind so easily. It was hard not to think about him.

"Vera?" Cloud's voice was stern.

His daughter's head popped up. "Huh?"

"Tifa asked you a question."

She looked at Tifa who was wearing a strained smile. Vera glanced down at the table. "Oh, sorry. What was the question?"

"Do you have any extracurricular activities?"

"You mean like sports and clubs?"

"Yes,"

Vera shrugged and started poking her steak with her fork. "Nah, doesn't appeal to me."

"Why not?"

Vera started to make an agitated sigh when Cloud caught her gaze. She turned it into a fake yawn. "I never was a PE kid growing up and there's no clubs at school that I like."

"Well what sort of things do you like?"

Vera thought for a moment. What did she like to do in her free time? She liked to space out and doodle on her notebook at school. That was sort of a hobby. "Um… I like to draw."

Tifa smiled. "Oh, so you're an artist."

The girl slowly shook her head. "Not really. I'm not any good."

"What do you draw?"

She hesitated then went to cut another piece of her steak. "Stick people."

Nobody said anything for a moment then Cloud started laughing. That made Vera smile. It wasn't often she got the pleasure of hearing her father laugh. Seeing that Cloud was laughing Tifa joined in.

Something began vibrating in Vera's pocket and she felt her stomach drop. Cloud and Tifa noticed her face suddenly turn anxious.

"Vera, are you okay?" Tifa asked.

"Uh, yeah. I need to go to the restroom."

She stood up and walked away from Tifa and Cloud. If Roxas was calling her, then that meant something was wrong. So many scenarios were going through her head that she couldn't tell them apart. Vera stood by a tall decorative screen near the back of the restaurant. She didn't see anyone around so she thought it was safe to answer her phone.

"Vera!"

"Roxas, what happened? Did Riku get hurt?!" Her voice was panicked.

"No your fish boy isn't hurt."

She sighed with relief. "Then why the hell did you call? I said only to call in an emergency."

"Your freak almost murdered my fish!"

Vera frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Riku tried to eat my fish. I found him in my room and he had Goldie in his mouth ready to swallow!"

She scoffed. "Is that it?"

"This is serious!"

"It's a fish Roxas."

"Hey, that fish is really important to me. I've had it for three years."

"Did you give him something to eat?"

Roxas thought for a moment. "He ate a bite of pizza…"

"A bite? That's it. You know what? Maybe he didn't like it!"

"What's wrong with pizza?"

Vera growled clenching the cell phone tighter. "He eats fish Roxas! Fish is all he's ever known."

"How do you know? You don't know anything about him. Just because you've known him for almost a week doesn't make you a freakin expert on mermen!"

"I never said I was an expert on his kind! I'm just making an assumption! Now get him something he will eat and don't call me back unless it's an emergency!" Without another word, Vera snapped her cell phone shut. "Idiot." She muttered as she made her way back to her table.

"Are you all right?" Cloud asked when she sat back down.

"Yeah, I was just a little sick. I'm fine now."

When the three of them had finished their meals, Cloud paid the dinning bill and they got up to leave. They were almost to the exit when someone stepped in their way. Vera instantly took a step back when she saw who it was.

"Ah, Mr. Strife, Miss. Lockheart, what a pleasure meeting you here," Xehanort turned to look at Vera. "And of course, it is good to see you again, Miss. Strife." He studied her. Vera's face stayed emotionless.

"Xehanort," Cloud nodded. "You've met Vera?" He asked.

"Yes, we met at the aquarium one day." Cloud looked at Vera but didn't say anything. "Why don't you three come join me?" Xehanort offered.

"Actually, we were just leaving."

Xehanort smiled. "Ah, but surely you could stay for some dessert at least?" Cloud and Tifa shared a glance. "Come, just some dessert, it'll be on me."

"That's very generous of you." Tifa said.

"So what do you say?"

To Vera's dismay, Cloud and Tifa agreed to sit with Xehanort. When they sat down at the table, she made sure not to make eye contact with her father's boss. She had done it once already and it took every fiber of her being not to choke him. He acted so polite, like he was a gentlemen, but she knew he wasn't. He was wicked and cruel. She could remember the way he had tortured Riku with that device. It made her blood boil. Thankfully they didn't have to sit long with him. Cloud and Tifa finished their dessert quickly and Vera had stuffed hers down.

"Thanks for the dessert, Xehanort." Cloud and Tifa both said.

"It was nothing." He said. "I enjoyed your company." Xehanort looked at Vera for a moment. "That's quite a lovely shirt you have on, Vera."

Vera glanced down at her long-sleeved white dress shirt. She kept her voice as bland as she could. "Thanks."

"But," Xehanort reached his hand towards her and plucked a small strand of hair that had fallen out and onto her shirt. "There, that's better." He tossed it aside.

"Drive home safely. I'll see you two at work tomorrow. It was a pleasure to see you again, Vera."

Cloud, Tifa, and Vera said their goodbyes and left the restaurant.

Xehanort watched them leave. When they were out of his sight he left the table they had all been sitting at and sat down at a booth nearby. Behind the booth was a tall decorative screen…

"Hm…" Xehanort pulled a small plastic bag out of his pocket. Inside it was the small dark hair he had found in the pliers. In his other hand he held the hair that he had taken off Vera's shirt and had pretended to throw away. Xehanort looked at the hair in the bag and compared it to Vera's hair.

_Surely not. _He thought.

Even though the conversation he had overheard was strange it didn't mean that this girl could have stolen his merman, his property, from the aquarium. It was ridiculous. He felt silly that he had even considered it. Sure she had done some suspicious things such as roaming the halls of his aquarium unescorted. She also could get access to a card key by snatching Cloud's. Still that didn't prove anything. Why was he even pondering on this? How likely could it be that a single girl could steal a merman?

There were two suspicious statements Cloud's daughter had said on the phone. "He eats fish Roxas! Fish is all he's ever known." And "I never said I was an expert on his kind!"

It was very strange, but she could have been talking about a pet. It didn't mean she was talking about a merman. There wasn't enough proof.

As for the hair found in the pliers and Vera's hair, the only way he could find out if it was a match was if he had a DNA test conducted. Xehanort wasn't prepared to spend so much money on something that was most likely a waste of time.

Xehanort rubbed his forehead. This was stupid. He needed to stop being so paranoid. The orange eyed man flicked the tiny hair away he had taken from Vera. This girl couldn't be involved in the merman's escape. She was only a girl and only that, no matter how strong her will might be. Still there was something about Vera that irked him. The way she had looked at him. Those milk chocolate eyes had been full of pure hatred.


	10. Bad Day

**Okay another chapter. I'm out of school for the summer so hopefully I'll be getting chapters out quicker. I'm not going to be lazy on my stories this summer lol. I've got a lot of the next chapter written so hopefully it will be out soon too. Thanks to everybody who's commented. It's been very helpful and encouraging. So… new chapter here ya go and enjoy. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything of its characters.

Roxas was grumbling when he got off the phone with Vera. "Stupid fish boy. Stupid Vera." He raised the now full fish bowel to eye level with his goldfish swimming happily around inside. "They just don't understand, do they Goldie?"

Riku was still sulking from not getting to eat Roxas' fish. He just couldn't understand how humans could keep such tasty food inside a bowl without eating it. It just did not make sense to him. _A pet? He's got a fish as a pet? How could anyone keep food as a pet? If that isn't one of the weirdest human practices I don't know what is! _While Roxas still babied his fish, Riku looked at something on his nightstand. It was a cylinder shaped container with a picture of a tropical fish on it. Riku picked it up. _What's this? _He opened the lid and inside was little colored flakes. He got a familiar whiff of stale fish.

_That doesn't look like fish? Then again neither did that thing I ate at Vera's home. I guess it's worth a try. _He put the fish food can to his lips and tipped it upward so the flakes would fall into his mouth. _Mm… kind of has an after taste but it's not that bad._

Roxas was just putting Goldie back on her shelf. "There you go. I won't let him—oh Riku!"

Riku quickly put the can back down when Roxas yelled at him. He had bits of fish food flakes stuck to his face.

Roxas gagged and covered his mouth. He was going to say something but decided not to. _You know what if he likes it he can eat it. Saves me the trouble of finding him something to eat._

Somewhere else on the island Cloud had just dropped Tifa off and was walking back to the car. When he got back inside, Vera moved up to the front seat of the car. She hated sitting in the back it always made her car sick but Cloud had made her sit back there so Tifa could sit up front.

"What you didn't give her a goodnight kiss?" She asked in a sarcastic tone.

Cloud started the car. "I don't kiss on the first date."

"So this was a date?"

"No." He pulled out of Tifa's driveway. "It was only an outing."

"Uh-huh, I bet."

"That's enough, Vera. I don't want to hear another word."

The teenager leaned her head against the window. _Oh that's a big surprise. _

Half-way back to the Strife house, Cloud started talking again. "You know, Vera. You were very well behaved tonight."

She snorted. "You sound surprised."

"Well I can tell you're not too fond of Tifa."

Vera pulled her head away from the window and looked at Cloud who continued to look at the highway. "Were you afraid I was going to try and pull her hair out or something?"

"No."

"You thought I would insult her?" He nodded. "I am that bad?"

"You can be."

"Oh gee thanks!" She crossed her arms and slumped in her seat.

"I'm not done yet." Her father added as he glanced her way. "Since you were so well behaved I've decided to cancel your punishment."

Vera bolted straight up. That was a huge surprise to her. "Really?"

"Yes, As long as you promise never to stay out past your curfew again."

The brunette grinned and crossed her fingers somewhere Cloud couldn't see them. If this was under normal circumstances she might have kept the promise, but with Riku staying with her she knew things could become unpredictable and she couldn't risk it. So she lied between her teeth. "I promise."

"Good."

They drove for a little while longer in silence when Vera decided to speak again. "I actually had an okay time."

Cloud smiled a little. "I did too."

Then she decided to ask a question she knew would be risky. One wrong word could send her dad back into a grieving fit. "It's been a long time since we've gone out and done stuff like this, so I was wondering maybe sometime we could do something we used to do together?" She was afraid to specify anything because the chances of a painful memory of her mother coming into Cloud's mind would increase.

Her father didn't say anything for a long time and Vera thought that he wasn't going to reply that his silence was answering for him. Then he said. "We could try it."

_That's better than a no. _Vera was okay with that. "All right,"

When they arrived home, Vera went to her room and said goodnight to Cloud. Tonight she felt like she had finally connected with her dad a little bit. She picked up her phone and called up Roxas. Her cousin answered right a way.

"Vera?" His voice seemed stress.

"Yeah?"

"Please. Please take him back!" Roxas pleaded.

Vera rubbed her temple. Her cousin was giving her a headache. "Roxas, what is going on?"

"He's seen too much of my room!"

"What did he do?"

Roxas just growled looking down at his private magazines on the floor. "Just come get him."

"Okay, okay, okay. I'm coming. I'll be there in a bit."

"Hey, Roxas," Vera heard Axel through the phone. The redhead noticed the explicit magazines lying on the floor and gave Roxas and Riku a half disturbed half quizzical look. "Um… I do not want to know." He shook his head as if he was trying to shake an image out. "I over heard you talking. I'll give Riku a ride if he needs it. Don't make Vera get out." Vera had to admit, Axel could be sweet sometimes. Roxas and Vera both thought over his offer. The older boy chuckled. "It's still the weekend and I'm sure Vera wants to fool around." She took back what she had thought before.

At those words, Vera's face heated up in embarrassment and fury. She wished she could reach through the phone and bop that redhead right in the mouth.

Roxas laughed. "Yeah…" Then he said in a serious tone to Vera. "I bet she does."

"Roxas!" She growled.

"I'll send him with Axel and the rest of those clothes I bought him. That way you don't have to get out in the dark."

That seemed to burn out her anger. For now. "Okay. Tell him not to drive like a maniac."

"I will."

"Oh, and tell him not to drive up to the house. Tell him to park at the end of the road and I will meet him."

Roxas whispered so Axel wouldn't hear. "Isn't that a bit strange? What am I going to tell him?"

"I don't know… just use your imagination. Try to explain to Riku what's going on. Please? He might be confused."

On the other side of the island, Roxas was grumbling as he placed his phone back on the receiver.

"So?" Axel said. "Does Riku need a ride?" Roxas nodded. "All right then, Riku you're with me."

Riku nodded slowly, thinking that he understood. The sentences were making more since now. Roxas went to his closet and pulled out a shopping bag. He held it out to Riku and he took it. Riku didn't really know what it was, but he was going to hold on it. If Roxas was giving him something then he probably needed to keep it. Maybe he was making up for the fish he wouldn't let him eat.

"What's that?" Axel asked.

"It's a bag." Roxas said.

"What's in it?"

"Uh…" Roxas looked up at the ceiling. "Clothes… my mom… bought for… uh… me…" He kept trying to think up a good lie that Axel would buy. Then he thought up a good one and said in an excited voice. "But they were too big! So I'm giving them to Riku because he lost some of his suitcases when he traveled here to Destiny Islands. He sure did. It sucks."

The redhead stared at Roxas for a second with a slight frown on his face. He was acting so weird this evening and he couldn't understand why. Finally he shrugged with a sly grin on his face. "Aw man, that does suck. I'd burn the airport down if they lost my suitcases."

"Axel!"

He started laughing. "I'm kidding! Sort of…"

Roxas rolled his eyes and stepped closer to Riku. He said slowly. "You," He pointed at him. "Go with" he made his fingers do a walking motion. "Axel." He pointed to his best friend. "See Vera! Yay!" He made a happy face and clapped his hands. "Got it?" He said none too kindly.

_I really should hit him, but for Vera's sake I'm not. _Riku thought.

"Axel," Roxas thought up another good lie. Used to he didn't lie much, but Vera had been such a lying pusher lately. "Drop him off at the end of Vera's road. They're getting some… work done on it."

"Yeah, they do have some pot holes to fix."

Roxas was pleased Axel believed him so quickly this time. _Sweet he believed me. I'm on a roll! Wait! That's not good. Lying is bad, but Vera's making me do it. Doing all this crime stuff with her has drastically lowered my moral. She's such a bad influence!_

They boys said their goodbyes and then headed for the front door. Riku followed Axel outside without looking back at Roxas. He was glad to get out of his house. He could tell Roxas didn't like him and he didn't want to be anywhere he wasn't wanted. The way Roxas acted sometimes though kind of reminded him of Sora only Roxas was more hateful. When they got out the door Riku froze. _What is that?_ In the driveway was a large scarlet creature. Riku had never seen the likes before. It didn't breathe like an animal, but was still like stone. So the merman decided it couldn't be a living thing. But what was this strange bulky metal thingy? The Corvette was slick and shiny. Not a hint of dirt appeared to be on its body. Apparently Axel had just had it cleaned.Vera had never shown Riku a vehicle so he had no idea what it was. The merman gapped at it.

"Nice, I know." Axel said smugly before he got into the driver's seat of the car. The merman had never seen anything like this before. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. He moved towards it cautiously and touched the shiny red hood. It was cold and hard. "Hey, hey, hey, hands off! I just got this baby waxed." Riku quickly drew his hand away. "Come on, get in."

Riku followed what Axel did (although it took him a second to figure out how to open the car door) and sat in the passenger seat. A large rumble roared from the engine when Axel started the car. Riku jumped when the beast growled. "Whoa, easy there. Just the engine, man." Riku took a deep breath to calm himself down and jumped again when the car started moving. _It's growling and it's moving now! Maybe it is alive. What the hell is this thing! _Riku thought as he stared out the window."Nuttin to worry about. You act like you've never been in a car before in your life. Chillax!" Riku leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. Hopefully this would all be over soon.

Well when it comes to driving, Axel likes to drive fast. He was doing about 70mph on a 55mph road and he was just talking up a storm. At first the merman had felt really uncomfortable in this roaring red monster, but after a while of watching how fast and smooth they were moving by the landscape he started to enjoy it. It was almost like flying on the ground. Riku, not realizing how much danger he was in, listened and practiced his own speech under his breath so Axel couldn't hear.

"So I was like, girl, I know we're drunk and I don't have a condom and you're not on the pill, but lets do it anyways. So we did and it was awesome! Score!" Riku just nodded and Axel grinned. "You know what, I like you. You listen to me. You're not like Roxas. If I told him this he'd be bitching at me right now. As for the girl I don't know what happened to her, I've changed my number for my home and cell number. Just in case." Axel turned onto another road getting closer to Vera's house. "Anyway, now that you and Vera are sort of dating--I mean you're living in her house you have to be—you're going to need some moves to woo her and all that jibe." He elbowed Riku and the merman looked at the redhead confused. "You don't have to speak the same language to speak the language of love. Heh, I should use that in a greeting card or something. Like I said if you need moves you come ask me, because I wrote the book. One thing you should always remember, 'No means yes.' Ha ha ha! No I'm just kidding. Seriously don't rape her or anything girls here don't like that. Besides it makes things better if they enjoy it too. Do remember this, work your way down. Start from her lips down to… see where I'm going with this? All the way down to— oh look there's Vera!"

The brown eyed girl was standing at the end of the road that led to her house. Her arms were wrapped around her. It was kind of chilly that night. Axel rolled down the window.

"Sup, Vera? I brought your friend back." Riku got out of the car slowly bringing the bag Roxas had given him and walked around to stand at Vera's side.

"Thanks, Axel."

"No problem. Hey, there's a party tomorrow night so if you two wanna--"

"No we're busy."

He smiled winking at her. "Of course you will be, won't she Riku?"

She blushed knowing what he meant. "It's not like that!"

"Sure…" He puckered his lips in a kiss to taunt her even more. If there was one thing Axel loved to do it was pissing off Roxas' cousin because it was so easy to do. Surprisingly, Vera kept her calm. _Well that should have made her throw a tantrum. She must really be trying to impress the foreign kid. _Hethought.

"Please go be perverted somewhere else." The girl had to force out calmly, but you could still tell she was angry from the few little growls that threatened to come out.

Axel laughed satisfied that what he said did get to her. "Okay, see you kids around." Axel revved up his engine and drove off into the night.

The two teens watched him drive out of sight. Vera turned to the merman. "Sorry I had to leave you there for so long. I hope it wasn't too bad." She saw the bag Riku was holding. "Oh and you brought the rest of your clothes. Here I'll take that for you." Riku had understood the majority of the sentence and tried to communicate to her that he didn't mind to carry it. The girl smiled when he tried to deny her help like a gentleman would. "I insist. Here in the human world, a host helps their guest. You are my guest and I am your host so I am only too happy to carry this for you." She took the bag from Riku's hands before he could do anything else and threw it over her shoulder. "Follow me. I'll take you back to the house."

Together, Vera and Riku carefully snuck through the house while Cloud continued to sleep. They made it to her room and she sighed. Vera was glad that tonight's events were over. It had been stressful and she knew it had to be for Riku being in a different environment. She went to turn on her light but it didn't come on.

_My light blew out already? I just changed that thing not too long ago. Stupid cheap light bulbs! I knew I should have gone with fluorescents. I'll have to turn on my lamp. _

Vera placed her arms out in front of her and started feeling her way through her room in the dark. Riku tried to follow behind her.

"Hm… bed... nightstand… clock…phone… something fluffy? What is that? Oh yeah. My Furby. I forgot that was there… ah ha! There you are lamp!" She pulled on the string and it clicked, but no light came. "Are you kidding me? Ugh… I know there's a flashlight here somewhere, but I have no idea where it is. Guess we'll just have sit in the darkness Riku. Sorry about that."

Being in the darkness didn't bother Riku at all. Actually he rather liked it. Although he liked lying out in the sun, he loved to bathe in the moonlight. He had always been sort of drawn to the moon. _I guess I kind of know why know. _Riku thought as he shifted his weight to the other foot.

The girl sat down on her bed and exhaled. She was tired. Seeing Xehanort tonight had seemed to keep her tense. What if he knew? The way he looked at her it was like he could see into her mind. It was scary. He was scary.

The silver haired teen found his way through the dark and sat down beside of Vera. He could sense that she was stressed and he wanted to find some way to comfort her. Riku searched for her hand and Vera smiled when she felt his contact. She held out her hand and he laced his finger through hers. That did seem to make her feel better. It was like Riku's touch could suck every bad feeling out of her body. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark she saw that he looked worried.

"I'm okay. It's just been a long day." She said. "I bet you feel the same. You must be tired."

The clock on her nightstand said it was getting close to eleven. Tomorrow she had school. She didn't want to go, but she couldn't skip anymore school than she already had. She had gotten most of her grades back up to a C finally. Riku would have to stay at home by himself. If she could take him to school she would, but that would be really difficult. It's not like she had any real proof that he was an exchange student. Plus with Xehanort's people looking for him, she didn't think it would be safe. Vera looked at Riku. He did look sleepy. She released her hand from his and picked a pillow up from her bed.

"I'll let you get to sleep. I'm going to crash on the couch." She walked to the door then looked back at her merman. Riku got up from the bed when she went to open the door. He didn't want her to leave. They had just gotten back together.

"Vera…"

Honestly Vera did not want to sleep on the couch either, but she didn't want to bother Riku during his sleep. She knew that she must have the night before waking up to almost being on top of him that morning.

"I'm just going to be down the hall. I'll see you in the morning." She stepped out of the room and turned to look at him. "Goodnight, Riku. Sleep tight." She said as she closed the door.

When Vera left, Riku continued to stare at the door. It didn't look like she was going to come back, so he went over to the French doors. He tried to open them, but they were still locked. Instead he gazed out the window, watching the ocean waves roll up to the shore then retreat. The tide was starting to come in for the night it appeared. Today had been an interesting day for Riku. Hanging out with Roxas and Axel like a true human guy was pretty neat. If he could speak human, he knew the experience would have been even better. Feeling tired from the day, Riku went to lie down on the bed. The room was kind of stuffy so he pulled off his vests and threw them to the side leaving his chest bare. He lay down on the bed placing his hands behind his head and let his eyelids droop.

_I wonder how Sora is doing. _

It was late at night on the islands. The ocean was unusually calm. The waves weren't very rough at all. They seemed to caress Sora's body as he floated on the surface staring up blankly at the stars. The young merman felt empty or like he was missing half of himself. It felt so strange to be away from Riku, to be unable to hear his mind. For so long they had been together, shared thoughts and emotions. Since they had been little merboys they had been best friends. They never went anywhere without the other. The brunette remembered how they used to compete against each other. How they would laugh at the stupidest things. How they quarreled about stuff that was meaningless just like all siblings. Although they weren't brothers by blood he felt like they were true brothers. Their friendship was unbreakable.

The silence was disturbing. Sora heard nothing, nothing but the light sea breeze and the crash of the waves upon the shore far away. It was the worst pain in the world this loneliness. On that same shore his "Big Brother" was being held captive or worse.

_Maybe they've already… _He swallowed a sob that was rising in his throat and couldn't bear to finish his thought.

Sora couldn't help but feel hopeless. It had been three days since the full moon and he still had no hint as to where Riku could be. Even if he could find him how could he get him out of that horrid human world? What would he do if he couldn't find him? Was Riku really gone forever? They had been so excited for this journey to see what the full moon would bring and it was nothing. If it wasn't for them coming to see the stupid moon Riku would have never gotten captured. Sora turned his eyes away from the white orb in the sky.

_Stupid moon. _He thought. _Stupid me… Why did this have to happen to Riku? What has he ever done? He doesn't deserve this. I'm never going to see him again. _

Tears overflowed Sora's cerulean eyes then he quickly wiped them away. He began to think about what Riku would do and took a different attitude. If he, Sora, was stuck inside the human's domain, would Riku be out in the ocean blubbering like a baby? No he wouldn't. He would work to find a way to save him. This is what gave Sora hope. Riku wouldn't give up so he shouldn't either. Their friendship could withstand anything. Neither Mother Ocean's wrath, nor the human's strange technology could ever change that. Sora dived back into the waves then leaped out of the water towards land.

_I'll find him. I'll search forever if I have to. _

"What are you doing on the couch?" Cloud said waking Vera up.

The girl sat up and stretched letting out a big yawn. Her head was cocked slightly to the side. She had a crick in her neck. "Huh?" She said half asleep looking up into her dad's bewildered face.

"How'd you get on the couch?"

Vera rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "I… just couldn't sleep in my bed for some reason. So I tried the couch. You know how it is."

"Well get dressed, you've got school." Cloud walked into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Aw, man…" She groaned. "I don't want to go."

Her father sat down at the table with his morning newspaper and coffee. "You're going."

After stretching all her muscles she walked down the hallway and cracked her bedroom door open. She glanced over her shoulder once to make sure her dad wasn't watching then slipped inside. On the floor in front of her were Riku's vests. Her eyes found his shirtless form stretched out on the bed sound asleep. Vera felt heat rise into her cheeks. How could anything be so stunning? Vera couldn't bear to wake him, but she had to let him know she was leaving soon.

"Riku?" She patted his arm and he groaned turning over on his side away from Vera. _I was hoping he wouldn't be tough to wake up. _Moving to the other side of the bed, she tried again shaking him a little. "Wake up." His eyes barely opened. "Good morning, Riku."

Riku turned over and arched his back to stretch it then he sat up on his elbows to look at Vera. He was pretty drowsy. The merman wasn't used to getting up so early. When he was in the ocean, Sora and him would take little naps throughout the day that usually kept him energized all the time. This one long nap humans took everyday seemed to make him sleepier. He rubbed his eyes with one hand.

"Did you sleep well?" Riku gave her a sleepy smile. "Good," She rubbed her aching neck. _Wish I could say the same._ She got out her school uniform from the closet and stared at it. _I hate to leave him here alone, but I don't have a choice. _She looked at Riku who was pulling his shirt on. _I wish I could just stay here with him. I wish I could bring him with me, but he's got no records of existing as a person so the foreign exchange student thing wouldn't work out too well. Plus Xehanort could be anywhere. _

"Um, Riku," She said turning around to him. He was pulling his vest down over his fine stomach. "I have to leave you here alone today." Riku didn't like the tone of her voice. It sounded worried which in turn made him to do the same. Was something wrong? He looked down and Vera placed a hand on his shoulder. "But I'll be back. In eight hours. Dad won't be here all day so you'll have the run of the house. You've got your fish sticks in the freezer and the TV in the living room. So don't be down, okay?"

Riku looked at her from under his lashes looking like a sad puppy. It was killing her. She really wanted to stay there with him. How could she cheer him up? "Hey, when I get home…" She thought up of something he would like to do. The only thing she knew that he would want to really do was something she would hate to do, but it didn't matter what she wanted. If it made Riku happy she would do it. Vera rubbed the back of her neck as she walked over to her French doors and opened them. Her neck was still aching. Riku followed her out onto the balcony.

"I will take you… to the beach," She pointed out to the ocean. "Because I know that's something you really like to do. I can tell. So," She smiled at him half-heartedly. It couldn't be helped. Just thinking about being near the sea was making her nervous. "That should give you something to look forward to today." Vera didn't know at first if he understood or not, but when she saw his face light up, she knew he must have. "That's better. I knew you would like that." She glanced down at the school uniform she was holding in her hands. "I'm going to go get changed."

Vera went to the bathroom and put on her school uniform. A long-sleeved white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a blue plaid tie. The blue plaid skirt came down to her knees and she wore black shoes with dark blue stockings. She really hated the school uniform. Why couldn't they let them wear their own clothes? Why couldn't the girls wear jeans or at least khaki pants?

The girl tied her brown hair back in a ponytail as usual then did something unusual and dabbed some makeup on her face. It wasn't often that she wore makeup and no one had really shown her how to put it on so it wasn't the best. Vera just couldn't understand it. _I've never had a boy make me feel this way before. Riku makes me feel beautiful even when I look like crap. He makes me want to try and look my best when in the past I could have cared less. Well except for my boobs because people made fun of me in middle school and I was sick of it. _She tried putting some eyeliner on, but saw that it wasn't going to work out, because she was afraid she'd poke her eye out so she just settled with some lip gloss and eye shadow.

She walked back into her room to grab her backpack. Surprisingly, Riku wasn't gazing out at the ocean like he sometimes did. He was too busy looking at Vera. He had never seen her in her school uniform. To him it was proper and elegant. A very lady like dress that was similar to what he imagined human women to wear. Before he had gotten captured, he had always thought that the human men wore fancy ties with tights and tunics and the human women wore big lovely dresses in a rainbow of colors. That's what the elder's stories had described them. This outfit of Vera's was much nicer than any poofy colorful dress it was simple but nice.

"Ugly isn't?" She said catching his eyes on her. "I've tried to burn it on several occasions, but my friend Kairi always stops me. They won't let us express ourselves at my school." She sighed. "Anyway," She said as she opened her bedroom door. Cloud had left around the time she was talking to Riku. "I'll turn the TV on for you and let you get comfortable. I'd let you use this one in my room but it hasn't worked in forever." She went to the freezer and showed him the fish sticks then placed them back then turned the TV on for him and put it on a channel she thought he might like. Animal Planet was having some special. She thought he might like to see what kind of animals they had on land. "Well, that's it." Riku watched her, leaning against the back of the couch. She didn't know what else to say. So badly Vera wished she could see what he was thinking. She reached for Riku's hand and he met her half way. Her cheeks began turning red, but she kept her eye contact with him. "I'll be back in a few hours. My dad shouldn't be home before me."

_But what if he gets off early? Surely that won't be the case. _She thought. _Still I should think of a plan for Riku if he does._

"If he does though," Vera continued. "Hide in my room. Under my bed would be the best or the closet."

Riku understood most of the words Vera said. It was something to do with the thing he slept on. To make sure he understood he pointed down the hallway to Vera's room.

"Yes! Exactly right," It was so impressive how well Riku was doing with his English. He was learning really fast.

The merman was pleased with himself. _I'm starting to get the hang of this language I think. _The TV was continuing to play behind him. There were some cheetahs chasing a baby gazelle. He glanced at the "color box people thingy". _I should practice really hard today._

The clock was getting closer to eight so Vera knew she would have to book it now. If she got detention for being late that meant she would have to stay after school and she did not want to stay away from Riku more than she had to.

"I have to go." Vera gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "See you in a few hours." She let go of his hand then went to the door.

Riku watched her. Before she walked through the door, she waved to him with that same worried expression she wore last night. He waved back smiling a little hoping that would comfort her. Seeing her grin back, he knew it did.

It was the longest school day of Vera's life. For her, she had been sitting in class for 100 hours. For everyone else, they had been sitting in 1st period for five minutes. Kairi was sitting next to Vera in biology. Roxas was sitting a few seats away from her paying attention as always. The girl was going through some kind of weird behavior cycle today. She would lay her forehead down on the desk for a few seconds and then quickly snap her head to look at the clock. After seeing the time she'd groan and drop her head back to the desk. Kairi thought about asking what was up (and what five year old did her make-up this morning), but before she got a chance the teacher started talking.

"All right class. Today we will be talking about…"

Vera didn't hear one word he said. She was in her own little world. A world where time didn't move. Each Tic Tok of the clock meant nothing! Each minute was like an hour and each hour was like an eternity and each eternity was like hell. The teacher kept talking and talking. "Blah blah internphase blah blah mitosis blah blah blah!" It was eating away at her brain. She was going to have cabin fever she just knew it! What had her teacher done? Had he secretly frozen the time so he could keep them there forever? For some reason she had these horrifying scenarios going through her head of Xehanort and Cloud bursting through the front door of her house to find Riku there alone without her to protect him.

_I hope he's okay. I hope he stays safe. If he got hurt I would never forgive myself. _She thought as she continued to fidget around in her seat. _I've got to find a way to relax. I'll never make it through school if I don't. _

A note hit Vera's desk. It was from Kairi. It didn't have her name on it, but she could tell because the "I's" were dotted with hearts. Vera unfolded the note thinking she had broken Kairi of this habit of passing notes long ago. Apparently not.

_**Vera what's wrong? You look really worried? You keep looking at the clock like its going to explode or something. Is this about that guy you like?**_ It read.

How did she know? Kairi really did know her stuff when it came to love sick girls. Vera glanced up at the teacher who was writing the stages of how cells multiply or whatever you call it on the blackboard. At first, Vera wasn't going to reply, but she thought it might pass the time which she desperately wanted.

_**Yeah,**_ She dropped the note to the floor and kicked it to Kairi.

Kairi scribbled something down and passed it back. _**Want to talk about it?**_

For a few seconds, Vera seriously considered telling Kairi about Riku and what he was. Kairi was the person she could talk to about her troubles and she felt guilty for not telling her the truth, but she knew her friend would not believe her and even if she did, Vera didn't want to drag her into the possibly dangerous situation like she had to with Roxas. If Xehanort even got a hint of who was involved in Riku's escape, Vera had a feeling that he would do anything to get what he wanted. She could imagine him interrogating people for days, refusing the suspects food, water, or a chance to relieve themselves. After seeing him torture Riku with that device, she wouldn't put it past him to torture someone for answers.

Vera wrote down on the note. _**No, I'm fine. Just pay attention to Mr. Minlow.**_

Kairi plagued her with more notes, begging her for more details, but Vera refused to answer them. She kept asking if something had happened to him and other similar questions. This wasn't helping Vera to stop worrying about Riku. It was only making it worse.

_Maybe if I tell myself how well Riku must be doing back home, maybe that will help me relax. _She thought.

So that's what she did. She imagined Riku sitting on the couch, perhaps even getting up and examining a few human things every once in a while, eating his fish sticks when he got hungry, happy as a clam. Vera finished a full page and started working on another.

_This is good. I'm relaxing, I'm not worrying, I'm mellow as Jello..._

"Now I will collect the homework I assigned you over the weekend." Mr. Minlow said as he walked down each aisle taking up papers.

Vera of course wasn't paying attention. She was so absorbed in her writing that when the teacher held out his hand for the paper, she didn't even notice. Mr. Minlow grabbed one of her finished papers about Riku thinking it was her homework. Vera didn't even notice. The teacher took up the rest of the students homework then went back to his desk. Mr. Minlow shuffled through the papers. His eyes scanned each one making sure everything was in order grumbling as he did so. When he came across Vera's paper he frowned.

"Miss Strife?" His student continued to write about how she was imagining Riku back home and how well he was doing at her house while she sat there at school. It was making her feel a lot more relaxed pretending that she knew that he was doing all right. "Miss Strife!" Mr. Minlow yelled. Her head shot up looking around like she didn't know where she was.

"Huh?"

He held up her paper. "Is this a joke?"

"What?"

"This thing you call your biology homework."

Vera's face started turning pale. "Homework?" She squeaked. All the heads in the room put their attention on her. She had totally forgotten about her homework for that weekend. Of course, she had a very good reason, but she couldn't tell Mr. Minlow, 'Oh I had to rescue a merman from the aquarium, you understand. It just slipped my mind.' If that paper wasn't her homework then what was he holding? Then it hit her. It was the paper that described what Riku was doing right now. Her pale face quickly started turning crimson.

"Did you comprehend the lesson at all, Friday?" Mr. Minlow asked.

"Uh, y-yeah of course I did." She said.

Sure she had comprehended what she had listened to. The rest of the time she had stared blankly at the board pretending like she was paying attention. How could she listen to Mr. Minlow's boring voice when she knew that Riku was being tortured at the aquarium?

"Then how, dare I ask," Mr. Minlow grumbled in his deep voice. "did you get the idea that I told you to write--" He glanced at Vera's paper. "A short story, love poem, what is this?"

"Um, I don't know." Was all Vera could say. She was so embarrassed right now she couldn't think.

"Well whatever this thing is, it's an F."

There were a few snickers from the class and Vera laid her head down on her desk. _What a great way to start the day._

Meanwhile back at the Strife house, Riku watched the TV with great interest. These hairy furry monsters they had on land looked so weird and deformed compared to the creatures he was used to in the sea. The only animals Riku had really seen that didn't live in the ocean were birds and the occasional sea otter or sea lion.

"And now the Anaconda disjoints its jaws and stretches its mouth over its prey then begins to consume it whole."

Riku felt his stomach churn at the sight of the large snake eating its dinner. _That is disgusting. What happened to the furry spotted long neck thingy? "Grr-aph" is that what they called it? That was cool or that big grey wrinkly thing with a pointy horn on its nose. "Rye-no" or that… what was that other thing called? Oh yeah! "An-to-lope"… There are so many strange creatures that live here. _The merman turned his attention to the entrance to the house. _Where is she? I know she said she was going somewhere, but was she supposed to be gone this long? Maybe I should go look for her. _Riku stood up from the couch and went to the front door. He attempted to get out, but the door was locked. He grunted feeling somewhat annoyed. He leaned his back up against the door. _Well, it did seem like she wanted me to stay here. I guess I should listen, but what if she's in trouble? No. I shouldn't like that. This is her domain after all. I'm sure she knows what she's doing. I just have to trust her._

He wondered back over to the beige leather couch and tried watching TV for a while, but he had a strong urge to explore the places of Vera's house that she had not shown to him. There was that one room in the middle of the hall that he and Vera always had to tip toe by and he wanted to know why. What was in that room? He knew that the spiky haired man from the aquarium occupied it at night, but not during the day. So why couldn't Vera show him the room?Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Riku walked down the hallway and to the mystery door. His hand reached for the handle then stopped about half way. _Maybe I should wait for Vera to show me. _His blue green eyes stared at the door hard almost as if he was hoping it would give him a direction. He looked back down at the doorknob. _Well… _His hand wrapped around the silver knob. _I'm sure she wouldn't mind. She did say something about me having "the run of the house." whatever that means. _Slowly, the merman turned the handle cracking the door just enough so that he could poke his head inside to take a peek. The room was very dark. The blinds were pulled over the windows so that not even a little bit of light could shine through. He could vaguely make out the form of a bed, but he'd need to turn the lights on to take a better look. Opening the door a little wider, he searched for the flipper thingy that made the magical light appear. Once he found it, the light illuminated the room. There was indeed a bed, but it was much larger than Vera's full size mattress. The bed was covered in a black cotton duvet with two big white fluffy pillows on each side. A dark oak nightstand was on the right side of the bed. There was a traditional crème colored lamp that stood there and next to it was a cordless navy telephone. Also on the nightstand was a large black flat square. There was a closet on the far right of the room. Riku could tell it was a closet, since the door had been left open and he could see many clothes inside. On the far left wall there was a tan filing cabinet and many stacks of books and papers. It wasn't very tidy and seemed somewhat crowded, much like Vera's room. One thing she shared in common with her father. Riku was a little confused. This room didn't really look any different from the rest of the house so why didn't she show it to him.

Riku took a few steps inside. His eyes settled on the large black flat square on the nightstand. He had no idea what it was so he wanted to find out. Being careful, he gently picked up the square and turned it over. It was a picture frame and inside was a photograph of three people standing in front of a beach. Vera had shown him a photograph earlier and it amazed him how a real scene could be captured on such a small space. In the picture there were two adults and a child. The young merman recognized one of the adults instantly. It was the spiky haired man, but he looked different. His dark blue eyes didn't seem so sad and that smile he wore it wasn't a fake one or a grimace like the one he had sometimes been given back at his prison it was a real genuine grin. His arm was settled around the second adult's shoulders. It was a woman and at first glance Riku could have sworn it was Vera, but with closer inspection he saw that it wasn't. The woman was older and some of her features were different. Her eyes were a deep emerald, her skin was light and rosy, and her hair was a little darker brown than Vera's. He had never seen that woman around before and Riku wondered who she was. Next he examined the child. It was a little girl with thick golden brown hair and honey brown eyes. There was a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks and nose. She was smiling a shy little gap toothed smile and Riku couldn't help but chuckle. It was silly, but really cute. This little girl was Vera there was no doubt about it. The eyes, the hair, and the smile were all hers.

_So this is what Vera looked like as a child. She sure does look different now. And this woman who she looks so much like… this must be her mother. I wonder where she is. I've never seen her here at the house. _His eyes moved back over the spiky haired man. _So if that's her mother, then this… he must be her father. Why didn't I realize that sooner? I guess I never really thought about it though. _Riku sat the picture frame upright on the nightstand. _She went behind her father's back to help me. If he ever found out that she helped me escape she wouldn't just be in trouble with the orange eyed man she'd be in trouble with him too. I can't let that happen. I don't want her to get in trouble because of me. I better get out of here and leave everything as it was. _He placed the picture frame face down like it had been when he arrived then turned the lights out and closed the door behind him. He went back into the living room and sat back down on the couch. There were a pride of lions lounging in some tall grass on the TV. They were interesting creatures, but Riku couldn't focus on them. He was too busy wondering about that woman who he assumed was Vera's mother. Where was she? Had something happened to her? Vera had never mentioned her before. If today worked out like he hoped, maybe he would find out.

Well Vera's day didn't get any better. Turns out she had homework for every class and of course she didn't have any of it finished. It started pouring the rain when she had to walk to another building to get to her next class and by the time she got there she was soaked. She had forgotten to bring her lunch that day or any money to buy a fruit tray so she had to settle for the icky cafeteria food. In gym class, the teacher decided to play dodge ball and she was mauled by the upperclassmen as usual. Then to top it all off, she accidently slammed her ponytail in her locker and just about pulled her hair out. As she yanked and rattled on the locker door to free her hair it suddenly popped open and hit her right in the face leaving a rather large bruise on her forehead.

Surprisingly, Roxas tired to cheer her up throughout the day. She always tired to cheer him up on his bad days so he thought he would do the same. It did help her a little. Her cousin said that today he was going to the library to see if he could find anything on merfolk. The more they found out about Riku the better they could help him. That wasn't Roxas' only motive though. He also wanted more information on merfolk to learn if Riku was dangerous and how he could protect Vera from him.

"I'll let you know if I find anything." He said as they walked down the hallway to their last class.

"Good luck." She said. She highly doubted he would find anything. If the internet, a world of information, didn't have hardly anything creditable on mermen, then surely their local library wouldn't.

When the bell signaled for the end of class, Vera left as fast as she could. After collecting her books, she walked at a fast pace to hurry home. With her pounding head and damp clothes, she just wanted to forget about this bad day. The white beach house came into sight and she jogged the rest of the way there. She wished she had decided to stay home with Riku after all then she wouldn't have had to endure that terrible day.

_Riku's so lucky. _The fifteen year old thought as she stuck the house key into the door. _He doesn't have to go to school._

The silver haired teen jumped off the couch and faced the door when he heard the doorknob jiggle. Hopefully it was Vera, but he was prepared for anything. The door opened and the brunette walked inside. Seeing Riku's face made her forget about her bad day. She could get used to coming home and seeing that everyday.

"I'm back." She sang. "And so glad too." The girl sat her schoolbag down and started slipping off her shoes.

Riku felt himself grow anxious as he watched her. He had come to a decision and he wasn't certain if he was ready but he was going to try. He had to try. If he didn't, he would never be able to truly communicate with Vera. He had practiced long and hard these past few days and he thought he knew what he was doing, then again maybe he didn't. This was all new to him, after all. What if what he thought he understood turned out to be completely wrong? What if he couldn't understand no matter how hard he tried?

_No. _he thought. _I can't let fear stop me._ His heartbeat was accelerating. _I've got to do this. I can do this. I just have to focus. Here it goes._ His mouth and throat were suddenly starting to feel dry. His tongue felt like paper. The palms of his hands felt wet, but he hadn't touched any water lately. Was that normal? _Just do it! _Riku took a deep breath. 

"I am glad… glad that you are back… Vera."


	11. Desire

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

Meanwhile, back in town Roxas was going to the local library to search for information on merfolk. He was looking for anything, liable or not. He'd settle for a children's book. _Surely someone's imagination got it right. _Roxas thought as he opened the glass door to the library. It wasn't a very large building, but it was just right for the little town on the islands. He went to the librarian's counter to ask for some help. There was no point in looking around blind. He didn't use the local library very often, because he usually just used the one at his high school. There was someone sitting at the desk with a large book in front of their face. They must have been pretty comfortable there because they had their feet propped up like they owned the place.

"Excuse me," The person didn't answer. They just held up one finger, signaling for him to wait. Roxas waited for a minute, so he thought that was long enough. He cleared his throat and repeated a little bit louder. "Excuse me,"

The person sighed and lowered their book to reveal a boy's face. He stood up and leaned against the counter. The guy appeared to be just a few years older than Roxas, but they rivaled in size. Roxas was almost as tall as he was. The young man's steel blue hair was layered and covered the right side of his face only revealing one bright azure eye. He was wearing a grey long sleeved shirt and simple dark wash jeans. There was a small bronze name tag on the left side of his shirt that said, Zexion. There was something very familiar about this individual, but Roxas couldn't put his finger on it. Zexion's face stayed emotionless as he said in a very bored tone.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Roxas began. "I'm looking for something on magical and mythical creatures. Particularly mermen and mermaids, got anything like that?"

The young man named Zexion picked his book back up and began reading it again. "Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, children's section."

_I knew that one was going to come up. _Roxas thought feeling a little annoyed. He knew Vera would not be satisfied with getting research from The Little Mermaid, but even so he thought he would check it out.

"Okay I want that one, but do you have anything like—I don't know hard core information? Like old legends and myths."

Zexion rubbed his chin for a moment as he thought. He turned his seat around to face a computer that was on the far left side of the desk. His fingers started typing away. Roxas leaned over the counter a little to see the computer screen better. "Nothing I see here would be liable if you're trying to do real research." Roxas lowered his head when Zexion told him this. Was there nothing at all that could tell them more about Riku's people? "But I think we have something that could help you out just as well maybe."

Roxas' head perked up. "What is it?"

The librarian kept his eyes on the screen in front of him. "I've read the Latin version and I must say it is a fairly interesting book. Ever heard of a Nixe and Nix?"

The golden haired boy leaned away from the counter. "Um… no, what is that?"

"Female and male water spirits. If I remember correctly they live in rivers and can shape shift into different forms. Not a mermaid or merman exactly, but their legends do tend to share certain similarities."

This sounded promising, so Roxas thought he would check that out. It wouldn't hurt. "Do you have an English version?"

"Hm…" Zexion turned back to the computer screen and clicked the mouse a few times. "Yes, we do."

"Great! I'll take that too."

Zexion led Roxas to the children's section to retrieve The Little Mermaid book, and then to the back of the library. Roxas took in his surroundings. It was dusty and there were not many people here in this area. He wondered why.

"People tend to avoid the essay section, it seems." Zexion said when he noticed Roxas looking around. "It's quite sad really. Every once in a while a college student finds his way back here or someone like you asks for something in this section."

_College, _Roxas thought as he stared at Zexion. It was that word that made him realize who the older boy was. "Hey, you go to school with Axel, don't you?"

Zexion seemed to tense up at the mention of the fiery redhead. "Yes, I do, unfortunately."

It was all coming back to him now. This guy had been Axel's roommate at one time. Axel never did introduce him and he hadn't even told Roxas his name. Sometimes he would mention him, but Axel would call the guy by other names like "Up-Tight" and "Party Pooper" and "Book Lover" or "The-guy-I-think-is-secretly-a-librarian-molesting-serial-killer."

"You guys are roommates."

"Were roommates," Zexion stated. "I couldn't live another minute in that dorm."

_God, what did Axel do I wonder?_ Knowing his best friend, it could have been anything. He was almost afraid to ask what had happened. "Why?"

"Because," Zexion glanced over his shoulder to look at Roxas. "I never could get any sleep."

"Sleep?" This confused Roxas. When Axel stayed the night at his house he was always cooperative. He made himself a spot on the floor and fell right to sleep. Didn't snore, talk in his sleep, or sleep walk.

The blue haired boy rolled his eyes. "Almost every night he brought a 'friend' home. The banging, moaning, and the screaming… I couldn't take it anymore."

_Banging, moaning, and screaming? _When Roxas realized what Zexion was talking about, he felt like he had given him way too many details. "I really didn't need to know that."

"You are the one who asked." Zexion finally stopped at one of the shelves. The books on this shelf looked very fragile and weathered. His fingers lightly touched each book as his eyes skimmed to find what he was searching for. "Here we are," He pulled out a good sized hardcover book and handed it to Roxas. "Do be careful with it."

Roxas opened the book and flipped through the pages. _Maybe this will have the answers we're looking for. _

Vera had just finished taking off her shoes and was heading into the kitchen to get her and Riku something to eat, when an angelic voice filled her ears. Suddenly, the human girl froze. Her eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted, chill bumps crawled all over her skin, and her heartbeat quickened. Everything that had happened to her that day—the embarrassing morning, the unfinished homework, the rain, her growling stomach, the bruise on her forehead—was completely forgotten. The voice had erased her mind and the only thing she could remember was the desire to hear it again. Slowly, ever so slowly, Vera turned around to face the source of the voice. The silver haired boy smiled at her shyly and she gazed back. Pressure was building up inside her chest making Vera take a deep breath when she realized that she had forgotten to breathe. Was she dreaming? Was this all inside her head? Had her ears popped funny?

_No he couldn't have. I must be hearing things._ She was surprised that she could still think complete thoughts.

If the merman had really spoken, then his intellectual learning speed was far beyond any human's. Her tongue could hardly function to form a sentence. She took a cautious step towards the young merman and attempted to speak.

"Y-you did—Ri" She cleared her throat and tried again. "What did you say?"

Riku felt even more nervous now. Her reaction wasn't the one he had been expecting. Was he wrong? Were the words he spoke not the right ones to say? "I am glad you are back?" He said softly, hoping that was the correct reply.

Vera continued to stare at him as she placed a hand to her forehead. She was completely astonished. Just hearing this made her feel light headed. She was trying to absorb all this. So many questions were bouncing around inside her mind. Riku noticed her slightly sway threatening to fall over. He was almost positive he had said something wrong. He wanted to walk over to her to see if she was all right, but he was afraid she wouldn't want that.

His voice was echoing in Vera's mind and each time it did, she began to accept that maybe she wasn't imagining this, that maybe she wasn't completely insane.

Riku lowered his head, closing his eyes. He felt horrible because he truly believed he had accidently said something insulting to Vera. Even worse, he was convinced that he hadn't learned anything about human language. _I guess I'll just never understand. There'll be no way for me to speak with her. In her world, I'll never be anything more than a clueless mute. _

Suddenly he felt something wrap around him. His nose picked up the scent of cherry blossoms. Surprised, the young merman opened his eyes to see Vera holding him in a tight embrace. "Oh my God," She breathed. The girl was surprised she could still form words. Vera gazed up at him; her brown eyes were bright with excitement. A smile tugged at the corners of Riku's lips as a wave of relief washed over him. His cheeks began turning a bright red as he settled his arms around Vera's form hugging her back.

"Riku, you—you're…" She failed to finish her sentence.

"Talking?" Riku said quietly.

"Yes!"

She pulled out of their embrace, taking Riku's hands in hers as she took a good look at him. Vera was so excited that she didn't know what to do. She just couldn't stop smiling. This had really made her day. Riku was speaking! He was really speaking! Now that Riku could speak English, there were so many questions she wanted to ask him. So many things she wanted to know. Then Vera started talking so fast that no one could understand her. Questions started exploding out of her.

"How did you learn to talk? What's it like being a merman? How old are you? How did you come to Destiny Islands? How did you become human? Do you like being a human? Do you-"

Her words were running together and Riku couldn't understand hardly anything she said. She was too wound up to notice. To stop her gibberish, Riku placed a finger to her lips. She ceased speaking instantly, her mouth forming a hard line. Her face began to heat up making her freckles stand out. She knew she had made a fool of herself, but Riku just grinned at her. This time he spoke more confidently. He was slightly slow, but he was very clear. He wasn't secure enough to let his words flow fast like other humans just yet.

"I am still learning. Could… you slow down… your words, I mean. There are many." He pulled his finger away.

It took Vera a second to get her head on straight. To this human girl, the merman's voice was truly like music when he spoke. It was very… intoxicating. Vera had to remind herself to focus. "Y-yes. Of course," She rubbed the back of her head. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy. This is a great surprise. I've got so many questions."

"I have many questions… too?" He wasn't sure if that last word was right. There were so many different ways it could be used it was sometimes confusing.

"H-How did you learn all of this?"

"Watching," Riku said simply.

"The television?"

He nodded once. "I watched the… television, as you call it… and I watched you and your friends. After a while, your noises began to make sense to me." Vera couldn't help but giggle. She never thought of it like that. "I have been practicing very hard since we met… hoping that one day we could…" Riku winced trying to think of the right word to say. "Communicate… like this."

There was only one thing Vera could think of to say. "Wow!"

Riku didn't know how much longer he could keep himself from holding his questions in. Before, he had been patient because he had no choice, but now he didn't have to wait anymore. His curiosity was eating away at him more than ever.

"May I ask you… a question?"

Vera nodded eagerly. "Of course, ask me anything you want. Come, let's sit down."

They moved over to the sofa to sit. Vera's heart was still pounding. She never thought this moment would come so soon. Sure she had dreamed of her and Riku having a conversation, but she never imagined it would happen today.

Riku was glad that he had decided to try speaking. To see the joy on Vera's face when he uttered a string of words was really something. He felt so proud of himself. Now they could talk and interact like he had always imagined.

"Okay, Riku." Vera said. "My knowledge is limited, but I'll answer what I know."

Riku nodded and thought of what he would ask first. There were so many things he wanted to ask. It was hard to pick which start things off, he decided he would ask where she had been that day.

"Where did you go today?"

Vera grimaced. She could tell that she had worried him, and she wished that she had tried to somehow better explain where she was going today. "I was at school. I have to go there almost every day."

"School?" Riku raised his eyebrows looking a little confused. There was only one kind of school he had ever heard of. "Like… a school of fish?" That's what Animal Planet had called it.

Vera giggled as she shook her head. "No not that kind of school. It's a place where young humans are taught things that will help them survive out in the real world, or so they say."

This peaked Riku's interest. The elders had never mentioned anything like that in their stories. "What is it like?"

Vera had to think about that one. She didn't really have anything positive to say about it, but she would have to try. After all, Riku asked her what it was like; he didn't exactly ask what her opinion was of school. She described to him how five days a week, she went to this large building where she learned important skills with other students. They were required to have eight different classes that lasted one hour. Riku asked her what the classes were. Vera told Riku all of the main subjects she had to learn and explained each one. There was math, science, social studies, humanities and more. Riku hung on her every word and each time she finished explaining something, another question popped out of his mouth. He had questions about other human things, but this school really fascinated him and he couldn't help but ask more about it. There were questions about what the school looked like, who the teachers were, who were her friends, what did she eat at lunch and so on. At one point, Vera turned the TV on and flipped through the channels until she found a show that took place at a high school. There was a large clean hallway with new dark blue lockers on each side. There were a crowd of students socializing, walking to their classes, and slamming and opening locker doors.

"My school kind of looks like this," Vera said. "Only not as good as this one and the drama is no where near as juicy as on this show."

Riku studied the Television. It was like watching Animal Planet all over again, only with people instead of animals. Humans were just so interesting and different from Merfolk. By the time he got done asking questions about the human school, Vera thought that Riku probably knew just as much about it as she did.

"Your school... it sounds very nice." Riku said. He was feeling more relaxed now, leaning against the arm of the couch. "You must really enjoy going."

Vera shrugged. "Well, enjoy isn't the right word, but yeah, its okay. Some days are better than others…" She said as she thought over the events of her bad day. "But overall it's not too bad."

The human school fascinated the young merman. He wanted to go too. There was so much knowledge he could learn here in the human world. "Do you have to go tomorrow?" He asked.

"Sadly, yes."

Vera noticed him tense up again when he started speaking. "Could I... if it is all right with you… could I possibly go with you to school tomorrow?"

"Oh," There was so much eagerness in his eyes, and it broke Vera's heart to tell him no. It wouldn't be safe for him. Plus there was nothing to prove that he was an exchange student from the Western Islands. "I'm sorry, Riku. You can't. I don't know how I could get you in. You see, adult humans are complicated and have to have records on every student."

Riku didn't know what these records were but they sounded important. "Records?"

"They're papers with information on them." Vera explained. "All humans have identification, birth certificates, social security numbers, and a whole bunch of other stuff to prove that you are who you are. And if you don't have records they won't let you in."

That was a lot of stuff to have to get into school. Riku scratched his head. "I do not have any of those um… records." She nodded slowly. The merman understood what Vera was getting at now. "Because I am not truly human,"

He let out a long sigh. That was a downer. Vera sighed too. She hated that things had to be so complicated and difficult to get into school. Seems like humans required papers for just about everything. _Stupid damn papers._ She attempted to cheer Riku up.

"You probably wouldn't like it anyway. I mean, it's really boring. I would…" She hesitated for a second. "I'd rather stay here than go to school." That's what Vera said but what she really wanted to say was 'I would rather stay here with you.' But the thought of saying this made her blush and suddenly feel shy. That didn't seem to make him feel any better, so she tried again. "Besides," The girl placed a hand on the young merman's shoulder. "There are probably people out looking for you, and even though you have legs now, we don't want anyone to suspect what you really are. It would be best if you just stay put for right now. It's safer here than out there." Riku only nodded. Vera gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, hoping to express how sorry she was. "I am really sorry I can't take you with me to school. I would if I could."

The young merman looked down, trying to hide his disappointment behind his silver locks. "It is okay. I understand."

So badly, Riku wanted to experience this human school which seemed to be a big part of Vera's life. He wanted to learn and be apart of it like her, but he could see that was out of Vera's power and he didn't want to pressure her to do something she knew she couldn't do. Vera couldn't stand to see the disappointment on his perfect face. It hurt her just as much as it hurt him. If only she could find a way to give him a little piece of what a human school is like.

"Hey, I know!" Vera tilted her head to the side to get a better look at Riku's face. "I can try to teach you what I learn at school. I've got textbooks I can read to you if you want. I'll do what I can to teach you."

The merman looked back up at Vera. She could see the hope beginning to appear in his eyes once more. "Really, you do not mind?"

"Of course not, I'd be honored to teach you. You're really smart. After all you learned a language in just a few days."

"Is that… good?" He asked. He wasn't for sure how long it took humans to learn their languages.

The girl couldn't help but laugh. "Well, yeah! You know how long it takes for humans to learn a new language?" Riku shook his head. "It takes a lot of practice and a lot of time. I'd say months and sometimes years to get a new language really down pat." Vera couldn't help but chuckle again. It still amazed her that the merman was speaking so well. "How you learned so quickly… just by listening to others speak… its incredible!" Hearing this made Riku feel even more confident. It encouraged him to speak faster and try more difficult words. "So do you want me to teach you? It'll be fun. What do you say?"

For a second Riku had to recall what that last statement meant. When he remembered he nodded eagerly. "Yes! I would like that very much."

Vera tucked a strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear. "I don't know how good a teacher I'll be, but I'll try."

"You are a…. wonderful teacher, Vera."

The way he was staring into her eyes made Vera feel giddy and her heart started pounding. It almost felt like it was going to jackhammer itself out of her chest it was beating so fast. His face was only a few inches away from hers. Almost nose to nose. She didn't know what he was doing. Usually she would feel violated if a boy got so close to her like this without her permission, but this was different some how. She liked it. Even so, it made her a little nervous to have him so close to her face. Like any teenage girl, she was self-conscious. What if he thought her breath was bad, or he saw that pimple of hers, or the purple bruise on her forehead, or something else that was unappealing. It had been a long time since Vera had been this self conscious. When Riku saw her act a little uncomfortable of his closeness, he pulled back blushing. That was just a habit he had when he expressed his gratitude. It was the way he had been taught. Stare into a person's eyes, and not only let them feel your emotions, but see them. Humans were bigger on personal space than merfolk were. Riku didn't understand that yet.

"You have already taught me so much. I do… appreciate it. Greatly,"

His voice was so sincere and beautiful. It sent tingles up Vera's spine and rattled her brain. Speaking or not, Riku could easily flatter her. Her cheeks started to turn red, so she turned her head away so he wouldn't see. She wanted to say thank you, but she was afraid that an overly excited giddy giggle would escape her lips, making her sound like an idiot. That would be so embarrassing.

The merman had many more questions to ask, but he had already asked so many about the human school. They had spent half an hour on that one subject. He knew that Vera had many questions of her own and was probably growing impatient.

"Did you have some questions for me?" When she was sure that the redness in her cheeks had disappeared, Vera turned back to Riku and nodded. "What do you want to know?" He asked.

There were many questions Vera wanted to ask, but it didn't take her long to figure out which one she would ask first. The girl looked down at Riku's legs. "How did you lose your tail and gain legs?"

"Oh." The silver haired teen stared down at his feet and wiggled his toes. That was a question that he had been asking himself. "I don't really know, but it might… it might have something to do with the moon?"

Vera raised her eyebrows. "The moon?"

Riku laid his hands down on his knees. "That last thing I remember when I had my tail was looking up at the full moon. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in your bed… with no tail."

"So you didn't know this would happen?"

"I suspected that something was supposed to happen, but I didn't know it would be this."

Vera seemed confused, so Riku thought it would be best if he just started from the beginning. He explained to her that he and his friend had just come of age to go out and see the world. The elder council, who were wise and experienced mermen who led their people, ordered them to go to the small island off the main coast. It was there where they were supposed to await the full moon. Once it passed, they were free to come home.

"That's why you came to Destiny Islands." Vera stated when he finished.

"Yeah,"

Riku had mentioned a friend, and Vera was curious to know what had happened to them. "What about your friend?"

When Riku lowered his eyes to the floor, she knew she had said the wrong thing. Judging by the merman's reaction, Vera assumed that something bad had happened to his friend. She didn't want to touch a topic that made him upset. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I understand."

"No," Riku gave her a weary smile. "I will tell you what happened. His name is…" He thought for a moment as he tried to translate his best friend's name into English. "Soar, no… Sora, I think that's how you say it in human—I mean, English."

"You were close to him?" Vera asked.

"Yes. He's like…" Sora's dorky smile appeared in his mind, making him smile. "He's like my little brother. We've been together for as long as I can remember." His smile disappeared when he said. "The last time I saw him… I had just been captured."

Riku told Vera how that he and his friend Sora had gone out hunting. They went out a couple of miles away from the small island to hunt. On their way back, Riku said that he had sensed a disturbing object far ahead of them. This confused Vera. _He sensed something? Maybe he means he saw something far off. _She thought.

"How far off was it?" Vera asked.

"A mile or so,"

The girl's eyes widened. Now she was even more confused. "You could see it from a mile away?" Either he had really good vision or he was using something else.

"Not clearly. My sonar reading was not very descriptive until I got closer—"

After hearing the word "Sonar" Vera barely let him finish his sentence. "Wait a minute! You can use echo location? The same thing dolphins and orcas use?" Riku nodded and she smiled. She never would have guessed he could do something like that. "So that's what you meant by 'sensing' an object."

"Yes." Riku said. "We use sonar to help us hunt and to get a better view of our surroundings. Sonar allows us to see certain things in our mind," He lightly tapped his index finger to his right temple. "That the eyes can't see,"

Riku continued his story and told Vera that once he and Sora got closer, they found out what the odd object was. It was a long drift net that was surrounding the area and if they didn't think fast they would be trapped.

"Luckily we found a gap and managed to squeeze through. We got by the net and thought that we were safe, so we focused on getting back to the island. We were just coming out from under the boat… when I heard something above us." Riku's tone began getting softer. "I looked up… there was a net being dropped down into the water. I knew I could get away safely by getting back under the boat, but Sora…it was right over top of him and he had no idea." Vera was on the edge of her seat, anxious to hear what Riku would say next. "It all happened so fast. I didn't think… I didn't hesitate… I knew what was going to happen and I knew what the outcome was going to be if I didn't do something… and I knew what the outcome would be if I did. There just was not enough time for us both." Vera had a feeling what was going to happen next. "I swam as fast as I could, and pushed my friend out of the way of the net."

"But by doing so… you were caught instead." Vera said softly.

Riku nodded thinking back to when he had been captured. He could remember everything so vividly. How he struggled against the deadly mesh with all his might. Twisting and turning, kicking and punching as he desperately tried to escape its grasp, but no matter how hard he fought the net just took a tighter hold. It had been more than terrifying.

For a moment there was silence. It touched Vera that Riku cared so much about his friend, that he sacrificed his own freedom to save him. She studied Riku, waiting for him to continue his story, but he didn't. She realized that he looked a little stiff. His aquamarine eyes were staring out across the room blankly. The girl looked down at the merman's hands and noticed one was clenched very tightly. She understood what was going on. These memories were painful for him to think about. Vera gently cupped her hands over top of his fist, hoping to comfort him. Riku glanced up at Vera, then back down at her hands placed over his. He was surprised to feel his fingernails digging into the palms of his hand. Riku exhaled, and unclenched his fist. Thinking about these memories had made him tense.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"You don't have to apologize." Vera lightly stroked his hand with her pinky finger. She liked the feel of her small hands over his. They were warm and soothing to touch. She hoped that her contact made him feel the same way. "It's okay. Stuff like that is hard to talk about. No matter how long ago it may have happened. Trust me," Vera grimaced. "I'm still trying to cope with my own tragedies." Her mother's face appeared in her mind. She tried to give Riku a comforting smile, but couldn't. _I just wish I could deal with mine the right way._ She thought as she placed a hand over her bracelets. "It's still hard to talk about for me too."

Riku stared at her as he wondered what she meant by coping with her tragedies. What tragedy still haunted her? As much as he wanted to ask, he decided not to, at least for now. After all, she had just said it was hard for her to talk about, and just mentioning her tragedy seemed to make her uneasy.

_Maybe I'll ask her later. _Riku thought. _Or I'll wait until she mentions it to me again. Maybe then she will want to talk about it. _

"It must have been a very frightening experience to be taken away like that." Riku avoided Vera's eyes and shrugged as if the situation hadn't scared him. Although he would never admit it, he had been terrified. "You're very brave, Riku."

His cheeks began turning crimson upon hearing Vera's compliment. "Thank you."

Silence followed after this. Neither one of them said anything. They only stared at each other. As Riku looked at Vera, he wondered what she was thinking about. This thought sparked his next question.

"Why do…" The merman hesitated, thinking that his next question might be silly.

"Yes?" Vera said.

He shook his head. "Um, never mind,"

The girl raised her eyebrows. "What?"

He laughed nervously. He knew his question was probably stupid, but he couldn't help but ask. "Why do humans... speak?"

This caught Vera a little off guard. She thought he knew the answer to this already. "Why do we speak?" Riku nodded. "It's how we communicate, you know that."

"There is no other way humans communicate?"

"Well, let's see," She placed her index finger to her chin and glanced up at the ceiling. "There's body language, and I suppose writing counts."

"What about your mind?"

Vera looked back to Riku confused. "Huh?"

"Can humans speak with their minds too?" Riku asked. At first, Vera thought he was kidding, but the look on his face told her otherwise. He was being dead serious. "The elders… they say humans are not able to, but who knows how long ago they may have discovered that." Vera stared back at Riku, her mouth was slightly open. He laughed nervously. "I guess what I am asking is, have humans learned to speak with their minds."

Everything Riku said about merfolk simply amazed Vera. They really were a magical people like she had always imagined as a child. It all made since now. There was a word for how Riku and his people communicated, but she couldn't remember.

_Telepathy…_ "You're a telepath!" She exclaimed. _That explains why he couldn't speak. He's been communicating with his mind his whole life._ When she realized this, she couldn't help but get excited. It was just so cool. "Merpeople speak with their minds."

Riku smiled, glad that she understood. "Yes, we do."

"So you really didn't know any sort of language at all, huh?"

"Not a word." The merman noticed Vera's brow slightly furrow. "Is something wrong?"

"If you never learned how to speak when you were in the ocean… then how did you know how to say your name?"

"Oh." That had slipped his mind. His name was the only word he had ever learned to speak before the recent events.

Vera leaned forward in her seat a little bit. "You're not the first merperson to learn to speak, are you?"

"No, I'm not. A few of the elders know how to speak human languages, and they don't give lessons."

"How come?"

Riku gave an agitated sigh as he recalled the ridiculous reason. "They don't want us exposed to anything human. The elders look down upon those who live on land. They say that humans and merpeople are better off living separated."

"Has it always been that way though?" Vera thought of all the fairytales about mermaids. That inspiration had to come from somewhere.

Riku shook his head. "No. It wasn't until a few hundred years ago that we withdrew ourselves from the human world."

"And merpeople became nothing but a myth."

"Just as the elders intended it to be. They never told us the reason why we ceased contact with humans." Riku leaned his elbow on the arm of the couch. "The only word I ever knew in human was my name—and that is only because one of the elders told me."

"Why did he tell you?" Vera asked.

"I…" Riku paused for a moment and Vera saw that he looked a little puzzled. "I don't know. I never thought about it before. I was quite young when he told me."

Vera's question made Riku wonder. Why had the elder told him his name in human? When he was a young merboy, he hadn't thought much about it. He had simply believed he had been lucky to have one of the elders share his wisdom with him. Never had he thought that there could have been a purpose behind the elder's actions. Riku felt really stupid for not realizing this sooner. _Was there a reason that he told me? _

Vera's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Well, I guess there's really no need to speak when you can share thoughts with others. Plus," She started smiling. "It's pretty hard to talk underwater."

Riku started laughing when she said this. He could remember trying to speak underwater and it was not an easy thing to do. "It is rather difficult."

"Can you still use telepathy?"

"Huh." The merman shrugged. Since he had become human, it hadn't crossed his mind. "I do not know. I've… never tried since I gained my legs… my legs." Those last two words. He liked saying them.

For some reason, Vera felt shy asking the question she wanted to ask. Riku saw her cheeks begin to turn pink and watched her fidget with her hands. "Do you think… you could use telepathy… with me?"

His own cheeks began to turn crimson. Sharing his thoughts with Vera, that was something he had wanted to do ever since he had met her. Of course, that was before he learned how to speak, but still the idea appealed to him. "I could try."

Vera scooted closer to him on the couch, ready to follow his directions. "What do I have to do?"

Riku didn't really know how to answer that question. Telepathy just came naturally to him. It wasn't something he had to really concentrate and think about. Ever since he was a little merboy he had communicated using telepathy. If he wanted to do it, he just did it, simple as that. From what Vera told him, it sounded like humans still couldn't speak with their thoughts, so how could Riku help a human learn telepathy? Was it possible? He tried to think up some tips to help her. He didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a try.

"Well… try relaxing, just don't think about it. If you keep your mind open, my thoughts should flow right into you." Riku moved closer to her so that he could look into her eyes. _Perhaps if I focus on her then I can see into her mind. _Instinctively,Vera began to bashfully turn her head away, but Riku cupped her chin before she could. "Don't look away, okay?"

"Okay." She breathed._ God, that's not hard. _Her eyes drank in those aquamarine irises that were like rare sparkling gems, his hair that was like streams of flowing sterling silver, that skin so fair and smooth, those lips slightly rosy and so inviting. Vera was finding it hard to stay still and keep her breathing even. She was a little nervous, because what if this did work. Would he be able to see how he made her feel? What would he think of that?

Riku noticed her breathing a little faster and reminded her. "Relax." He whispered in a voice that was as musical as wind chimes to Vera. It seemed to calm her down. She took one deep breath then exhaled. "This is my first time trying this with a human."

"Do you think it's possible?" Her voice came out as barely a whisper.

"I do not believe anyone has ever tried it before. We might be the first."

Vera closed her eyes. Having him this close, she was afraid she would lose control of herself. Riku took three deep breaths and concentrated. For a while he tried letting his mind reach out to her, but he heard nothing. A part of him was begging to hear the voice of another inside his mind. It had been a while since he had used telepathy, and a part of him feared that he would never be able to use it again. His face scrunched up as he focused on what Vera might be thinking, but as hard as he tried he still heard nothing except his own thoughts. Finally the young merman sighed, and the human girl opened her eyes.

"Nothing?" She asked.

"Nothing," He said sadly.

"Oh." She said feeling slightly disappointed. It would have been an interesting experience to use telepathy, to see into Riku's thoughts. "Guess it doesn't work with humans."

"I guess so."

Vera looked over at the window behind her. It would be getting dark soon and she knew she had told Riku earlier that she would take him to the beach. Although she really didn't want to be near the ocean, she had told Riku she would take him and she wasn't going to let him down. Besides, they could still continue their Q&A on the sand.

The girl hesitated. "Do you want to go to the beach? I told you I would take you this evening, remember?"

Riku had understood when she had told him this morning. So much he wanted to be near the ocean. It was like it was pulling on his heartstrings. The merman didn't know why, but he had this constant urge to be near the ocean. To hear the waves, to feel the cool salty breeze, and most of all, to sink his toes into the wet sand and watch the water wash in around his feet. It helped ease the pain of missing his friends back home.

Vera was on her feet before Riku had even answered. There was no doubting that look in his eyes. "I remember." He concentrated on his balance as he stood up from the couch.

"We should go before it gets dark." Vera glanced down at her uniform and knew she had better change. After all, they were expensive to replace. Kairi had told her countless times when she was tempted to set it on fire. That was the only thing that stopped her from doing it. "I need to change first though. It'll just take a minute."

She rushed through the house and into her room. As she was picking out her clothes from the closet, her phone rang. Vera pulled out a grey T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, and then quickly answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Roxas' voice came from the other end. "I'm on my way to your house. I picked up this book from the library. You should take a look at it. I think it might help us out."

This was a surprise. Vera wasn't expecting Roxas to find anything on merfolk at the library, and she couldn't help but be skeptical about this information he had found. "Really?"

Roxas could clearly hear her doubt. "Look, I know what you're thinking, but try and keep an open mind about this. It could be useful. Let's just look and see if we can find anything."

"All right… Oh guess what happened today when I got home?"

"Let me guess." Roxas now seemed annoyed. "Riku said a new word. Whoop de do."

Normally, Vera would have gotten pissed at him for saying such a thing, but today she was going to let that slide. She knew Roxas didn't think Riku was very intelligent, but that was going to change today. When Roxas heard Riku start talking, he'd be the real speechless idiot. That was enough to satisfy her. "Let's just say you'll be in for a shock when you get here." Vera said with a smirk forming on her lips.

"Did you teach him a trick?" He chuckled.

"Oh you'll see. We'll be down by the beach, so meet us there."

Vera hung up the phone then changed into her clean clothes. Riku was waiting on her in the living room, standing in the same place when she left. They walked out the front door and followed an incline path down to the beach. It had been so long since anyone had used this path. In the past, Cloud had kept it nice and clean. Now the beach grass had completely taken over. Vera could remember carrying her little plastic pail and shovel down this small path, holding onto Aerith's soft gentle hand. They always made the best sandcastles together.

The two of them walked side by side. The sun was hot and bright. The water seemed to sparkle in the distance. There was a nice cool breeze that slightly whipped their hair. Feeling the need to hear Riku's voice, Vera asked him another question.

"So… how do you like being human, Riku?"

The boy turned to her with a smile. "It's nice."

"Must be weird though, huh?"

"Weird?" He had to think for a second on what that word meant. "Weird… Oh yeah, it's really weird." Then he thought that reply might have been rude and quickly added. "Not that it's a bad thing! It's good... really good."

"I know what you mean." Vera giggled.

Riku stared out towards the ocean. "Everything is so different here on land. There's so much I want to see."

"What would you like to see?"

Although there were many places and things Riku wanted to see, there was one thing in particular that stuck out in his mind. There was this one story that the elders would sometimes tell. It was a real treat, because the elders rarely told any stories about the humans. Supposedly there were places that the humans had created where great massive structures reached up into the sky and the stars would hover near the earth. The stars were so close; it looked as if the humans could touch them. That was something he really wanted to witness, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was called. When he described this to Vera, she didn't know what he was talking about. The last time she checked, there wasn't any such place on the islands. From the way Riku spoke, it sounded like a wonderful place. Then again, his voice was so poetic; Vera would probably think anything was beautiful if he described it to her.

"Where is this exactly?" Vera asked.

The elder's stories had explained their locations. The wise mermen had said that you could only see the stars brightly from a distance. The reason for this was to discourage anyone from getting too close. "The coasts usually, although the elders say that there are many more all across the land. Many humans live and thrive there."

Vera tried to see this from the merman's point of view. If she was in the ocean at night (as much as she hated the thought) what would look like stars to her? It took her a minute, but she finally figured it out.

"Oh I get it!" She exclaimed. "You're talking about a city."

That was the word Riku was trying to remember earlier. "Yes, a city. It's where the stars hover near the ground or at least it looks like it." Riku said.

Vera smiled shaking her head. "I can see why your elders would think that."

"So they are not stars?"

They finally reached the bottom of the hill and took a seat on the dry white sand. The sand was nice and warm from the day's heat. "No. They're just really bright lights. Sort of like the ones in my house. I wish they were stars though."

There were not any big cities near the town Vera lived in. The closet metropolis was New Destiny, and it was about three hours away. That was out of the question. There was no way they could make that trip on foot. Even if they found a ride, there was no way they could go there and back without her dad finding out. As she tried to think of a way to show Riku a city at night, Kairi's voice suddenly spoke to her. A month ago Kairi had gone on a date and had described everything to Vera in detail.

_After Tidus took me to that little French café on Lionfish Street, he took me to the pier. I know what you're thinking, "Ew the pier! What's so great about the pier?" I thought the same thing. _Kairi had let out long dreamy sigh._ Oh but Vera it was so romantic! It really was. The pier isn't much to look at in the day, but at night, it's just so wonderful. Listen, Listen! _

_I'm listening Kairi. I can't listen any harder than I already am. _Vera had laughed.

Kairi continued, making dramatic gestures with her hands like she was a storyteller._ We were all alone on the pier, no one else was there. It was nice and dark. I could hardly see my hand in front of my face. If it wasn't for the moon being bright that night, I would have been as blind as a bat. Anyway, we walked to the end of the pier and the town looked absolutely wonderful! All the buildings and lamps were lit up. You'd think it wouldn't look like much, but it really was, Vera! Tidus and I exchanged a few words… then he kissed me. It was so great! The atmosphere was just so perfect! Not to mention he's an amazing kisser!_

That was it. The pier would be the perfect place to show Riku the town at night. It wasn't a great big city, but Kairi spoke as if it was still a lovely sight to see. It did sound nice to Vera. She started to day dream about taking Riku down to the pier at night.

_The moon was nice and bright in the sky, reflecting against the dark blue calm ocean. They walked quietly across the wooden structure, hand in hand. A plank groaned when Vera stepped on it making her feel uneasy. Being on this pier was a little frightening to her. It was so close to the deadly ocean. Riku heard her flinch at the sound and placed his arm around her waist bringing her body closer to his. This made her feel safe… it felt like home. When they reached the end of the pier, they leaned against the railing and gazed out at the town in the distance. It was a collection of lovely silver orbs. Although small, it was still breath taking. Riku would sigh at the sight. _

"_It's beautiful, isn't it?" Vera said. _

"_Yes, it is. But," _

"_But what?" Vera said._

_Riku turned his face to her. The moonlight made his eyes shine like brilliant stars. His fair hand touched her cheek sending chills up her spine. The boy leaned close to her ear and whispered. "It's nothing compared to you."_

"_Riku…" She was surprised she could still speak._

_His lips brushed her ear making gasp. Her legs turned to jelly and she stumbled backwards. Thankfully the rail was there to catch her; otherwise she would have fallen off the pier. Vera braced her hands against the railing. Her heart was beating out of control. Just that one touch of his lips on her ear, had done this to her… and she wanted more. Riku moved with Vera as she staggered back, gently placing his hands over top of hers that were gripping the railing. Then he pressed his lips against hers, nice and gentle. Vera kissed him back. It's the only thing she could do. His kisses seemed to paralyze her. Not that she was complaining. When he pulled away, Vera said._

"I love…" She trailed off.

"You love what?" Riku asked.

Suddenly the pier disappeared and Vera was back on the beach with Riku. For a moment she was confused why she there. Then she realized she had only been daydreaming. The fantasy had been so vivid that she had forgotten reality.

Riku gave her a concerned expression. "Are you all right, Vera? You look… tense."

_Oh my God! I almost said that I… _Vera panicked. She had to lie to cover up what she was really going to say. "I'm fine! I um… I mean… I love going to the pier at night. That's what I was going to say. The town looks really lovely from there."

"Oh."

Vera relaxed, letting her shoulder slump. _Good save, Vera! Good girl! You almost embarrassed the shit out of yourself, but you're good now. Can't make another slip up like that. _

The human girl was afraid to tell the merman her feelings for him. Everything about him attracted her. She was a moth and he was a bright lamp she didn't want to ever get away from. The desire she felt for him seemed to grow stronger by the second. There was the constant desire to always see him, the desire to feel his touch, the desire to hear his voice. Her attachment to Riku scared her a little. They had only known each other for a few days. Love didn't happen in just a few days. That only happened in books and movies, but there was no denying it. Vera was completely crazy about Riku. She feared that he didn't feel the same way though.

_But we were going to kiss. After he saved me from drowning, that had to mean something, right? _Her more positive side thought. Her negative side countered. _Really he was going to kiss you? How do you know? After all, you were hardly conscious. How can you be sure that he was going to kiss you, huh? Why would he want to kiss someone like you? Get real!_

Her negative side was such bitch, but Vera believed it. Why would a beautiful merman want to be with an average troubled girl? No guy in the past had ever shown her any interest. Why would Riku be any different? It was always the same. When she confessed to her crushes in the past, they either laughed in her face, or said they just wanted to be friends. Vera had come to think she just wasn't good enough for anybody. She had had rejection before and survived, but she didn't believe she could handle Riku's. She wanted to save herself the heartache.

Getting back on subject, Vera said. "I could take you there sometime. My town is no great big city, but I've heard the view is quite nice."

"I'm sure it's great." Riku said. "I can't wait to see it."

"Me too." Her daydream played through mind again. Riku kissing her fervently, running his fingers through her hair… she wanted that so badly.

To get her mind off her fantasy, Vera leaned back and stared up at the sky. Dusk would be arriving soon. The sky was already showing hints of pink and orange. There were one or two stars that were just bright enough to penetrate through the dawn. Hearing Riku's tale about the stars near the earth made her think of a dream she had as child. Thinking about it made her laugh.

"What is it?" Riku asked, but Vera shook her head and kept laughing. Seeing her laugh made him smile. What was it that was so funny? He wanted to be let in on the joke. The merman scooted closer to her. "Come on, tell me."

"Talking about this reminds me of what I always asked for when I was little."

"What did you ask for?"

"A star of my very own," Vera reached up towards one of the faint silver diamonds with her hand. "One that I could catch and take home with me," She closed her fist over the star. "Every birthday and Christmas, I begged my parents to catch a star for me. Most girls asked for baby dolls and Easy Bake Ovens, but I wanted a star." Vera opened her fist and stared at her empty palm. When she was younger, she would try to catch stars and hope that one day a star would appear in her tiny hand. "I never realized how much I was asking for." Just like any child, she had believed stars were bright lights or diamonds, just like the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star had described. Then she learned that they were actually huge balls of gas and other worlds that were millions of light-years away.

Riku chuckled at her story. He could see her imagining something like that. This made him think about the dreams he had had as a merboy. To explore all the vast oceans, to fight a Great White shark head on by himself, to experience everything the world had to offer on both land and sea. "Maybe one will fall to you someday."

Vera stared at his kind handsome face. "Maybe…" She whispered. _Maybe it already has. _She thought.

Riku turned his head towards the sea. The sun was beginning to sink beneath the ocean. The moon was already visible in the sky. The sound of the waves was so musical. It was calling to him. He could feel its riptide pull. It had never called to him so strongly before. His heart was yearning to get closer, and yet he had this strong urge to stay close to Vera too. A memory suddenly flashed through the merman's mind. It was the dream he had had when he had taken his transformation. _"Then I will take you by force. You will come with me. I'll make you. You will be mine." _His own voice echoed in his thoughts.

Suddenly he took Vera's hand and stood up. It was strange. He hadn't intended to do that and yet his body moved of its own accord. It was almost like… instinct. He didn't know how to control…and he didn't want to. This felt right.

A knot started to form in Vera's stomach when she saw that Riku's eyes were set on the sea. Was he thinking what she prayed he wasn't thinking? When he began leading her towards that terrible ocean, her fears were confirmed. He had no idea how terrified she was of his home.

"R-Riku…" As much as she tried to sound casual, she still stuttered. Although she knew where he was taking her, she asked anyway. "Where are we going?"

The ocean's calling was so loud in Riku's mind that he didn't even notice the fear in Vera's voice. "To the water…"

Riku spoke as if he were in some sort of daze, and that only scared Vera more. When she started to pull her hand away, Riku took a tighter hold. She bit her lip when he refused to let go. Riku had never acted like this towards her before. She tried to distract him.

"W-wait."

He didn't answer. Was he not in control of himself? How far was he going to wade in? Touching the wet sand on the shoreline was hard enough, but Vera could not bear to go any further. Was he so desperate to get near the ocean that he would pull her in with him? Adrenaline started to follow into her veins, and for the first time, Vera was afraid of Riku.


	12. Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

The water lapped against the shore, licking its hungry lips. The ocean made a sound like a roar of laughter. The waves were rolling into devious forms, crooked demonic hands with long frigid nails that could drown anything. That's what Vera saw.

Riku saw something entirely different. The bright blue green sea was dancing under the setting sun. The waves were gesturing for him to come closer. It sung to him like a thousand angels. He had to reach the ocean with Vera by his side. That was the only thing on his mind.

As Riku brought Vera closer towards the ocean, her body began to feel strange. An odd tingling sensation was crawling up and down her legs. They started to move without her permission. No matter how hard she tried to wriggle out of Riku's grasp, she just kept moving forward. Now the girl was completely terrified. What was happening to her? Her heart was pounding hard in her chest, her brow was covered in sweat, and it was all from the fear she felt of being in the ocean. Her fleeing instincts were trying to take over, but Riku's spell left her unable.

"R-Riku, what's happening?" At this point she wanted to scream, but her voice only came out as a squeak.

Riku continued to listen to the whisper of the waves. They were just like gentle sighs rolling off the water. The sound was simply impossible not to obey.

"The ocean… it's calling me…" The boy's voice was barely audible.

The girl's eyes grew as big as saucers. She knew that something was not right with Riku. It was evident in the way his eyes appeared unfocused, the way he spoke as if he were sleepy, and how his body moved quick and firm. The merman was no more in control of his actions as she was in control of her feet. There was definitely a problem, and the monstrous ocean was the cause. Vera knew she had to do something to snap the merman out of this before they reached the deadly water. Riku couldn't swim any better than she could in his human form. He would drown too when the ocean dragged him away with her.

"N-no, Riku, d-don't." She struggled to make her voice louder, but all she could manage was a whisper.

_Then I will take you by force... You will come with me... I'll make you…. You will be mine... You will be mine… You will be mine, Vera. _Riku's own voice repeated over and over inside his mind.

Vera tired her best to command her body to listen to her. She dug her heels into the sand as best she could, she tried dragging her feet, she even tried to trip herself, but nothing worked. Her body kept moving forward along with Riku. She tried to snap him out of whatever state he was in. She tried calling out his name, she tried turning him away from the ocean, she tried to push him down, but to no avail. Riku just kept moving forward. At this point, hot salty tears were running down Vera's cheeks. The horror she felt was unimaginable. In her eyes, the ocean seemed to grow black, the color of mystery, evil, and death. It wanted to kill her. It wanted to kill her and Riku. That's all the ocean had ever wanted to do. It just wanted to take lives. Vera believed that the ocean was somehow using Riku as a channel to do its bidding.

They were almost there. Vera was now clinging onto Riku tightly. When the ocean did take them away, she didn't want to be separated from him. If they were going to die, she at least wanted to die holding him. Just when their feet touched the foamy shoreline, the sound of loud high pitched squawks cut through the air. A flock of seagulls were flying overhead of the two teenagers, and they were making a terrible racket.

Upon hearing the birds call, Riku suddenly froze and dropped Vera's hand. Once he removed his hand, Vera regained her free will of movement. Her legs felt like jelly and she fell back onto the sand. Acting strictly on instinct, she desperately crawled away from the water until she felt safe. Her heart was running away with her, threatening to jump right out of her chest. She stopped when she reached the dry sand. Quickly wiping her eyes, they settled on Riku. The boy continued to stand at the shoreline. He didn't make a move. It looked like he was hardly breathing.

"Riku?" Her voice had returned to her as well.

The merman remained motionless for another minute. His aquamarine eyes were locked on the horizon. Ever so slowly, Riku started to sway to the left. He groaned and fell down to one knee into the water. His clothes quickly became soaked as the waves washed up around him. Riku cradled his head in his right hand as if it were aching.

Vera gasped as she watched what happened. Without hesitating, she crawled back over to his side as fast as she could. She couldn't believe she had left him in the first place. She had scurried away from the shoreline on her hands and knees when Riku had released her. Just like a fleeing rabbit, like the pathetic coward she was, and she hated herself for that. For leaving Riku alone, even if it was just a few feet. It made a big difference to her. Her shame was almost overwhelming. _I won't do that again. Stupid fear! I won't leave him, not ever. _

When she reached the merman, she wrapped her arms around his torso. When the water went up around her ankles, she started to whimper. The water was like ice to her. It soaked into her shoes and socks. Her body was starting to shiver. She was scared, but she wasn't going to leave Riku to his death. The waves had already moved him from his former spot. The water was now above his knees. If she didn't hurry, the undertow would pull him out more. Using what upper arm strength she had, which wasn't much, she attempted to drag Riku away from the cursed sea. She strained and grunted as she tried to move the merman. As Vera pulled on Riku, the ocean pulled him back. The waves seemed to grow bigger as they tried to push her down. She struggled to keep Riku's head above the incoming waves as she tried to drag him to safety. No matter how much Vera tried, she couldn't do it. She could barely scoot Riku away before the ocean tugged him back further in. She was getting nowhere and she was almost immobilized with terror. Tears began to run down Vera's cheeks again.

A wave of water slapped Riku in the face. His eyes snapped open. Some of the salt water got up his nose, and he started to cough. At first, his vision was slightly blurry. All he could see was the red and orange of the sunset. His memory matched his vision. Nothing was plain and clear for him to remember. It didn't help that his head was pounding like a drum too. There was also something constricting around his chest. When the haze finally cleared, he saw how near he was to the ocean. No, he wasn't near it, he was in it. Still on his knees, the water was up to his thighs. This completely shocked him. Was he this close before? The pressure around his chest continued to compress him. It was becoming quite uncomfortable.

Riku realized that someone had their arms wrapped around him tightly. It was a real death grip. Their nails were digging into his skin as if trying to hold him back. The silver haired boy looked over his shoulder. Behind him was a head of brunette hair buried between his should blades. They whimpered his name over and over. It was Vera and she was crying.

"Vera?" He formed the words slowly, as if he were half asleep.

At the sound of his voice, the girl's head shot up. Her makeup was slightly running. Her eyes were full of fear. Relief washed over her when she saw that the merman was finally awake.

"What is wrong, Vera? Why are you crying?" He asked as he turned around to face her.

Vera stood up so quickly that she almost fell back down. Riku grabbed her waist to steady her before she lost her balance. Her honey brown eyes were darting from the merman to the ocean. "L-Let's just get away f-from here f-first." She tugged impatiently on Riku's arm like a child trying to get their mother's attention. He nodded and got back up on his feet. He wobbled a little bit then followed Vera. They began treading through the water slowly at first then Vera picked up the pace. Riku found this task difficult. The sand was easy to stumble on and tried to swallow his feet. It also didn't help that Vera was walking so fast that he could hardly keep. They were almost to the shore, when a strong wave swept Riku off his feet. Vera spun around to face him when she heard him yelp. She squealed when the boy crashed into her. Vera was knocked down on her back. The girl closed her eyes tightly, preparing herself for the water to cover her face. Thankfully it didn't. When the girl opened her eyes, she forgot about the ocean. She blushed a ferocious red at the sight before her. Riku was on his hands and knees, hovering over top of her. His silver hair was wet and had clumps of sand caught in it. He stared down at her with concerned eyes. For a second, she imagined what they would look like if the concern was replaced with passion. This resulted in her growing redder.

"I am so sorry!" He said breathlessly. "I did not mean… to push you down. Are you hurt?"

The waves surged up around them again. This reminded Vera where she was. Near the ocean. The deadly ocean. They had to escape. They had to get away from the ocean. That thought consumed Vera's mind once again.

"It's okay! I-I'm fine! Hurry before the waves knock us down again!" She said as she started to sit up.

Riku pushed himself up carefully, and extended his hand out to Vera. He winced when she gripped his arm none too gently as she fought to get to her feet. Taking Riku's hand again, she headed for the dry sand. The dry sand was more stable and was easier for Riku to run on.

The farther they got away from the sea, the better Vera felt. It had started all of this. The girl was convinced. When she felt like they were far enough away from the ocean, they stopped. Vera continued to hold Riku's hand. Her other hand was over her heart as she panted.

"Vera, are you all right?" Riku asked a little louder. He didn't believe her other assurances. There was something obviously wrong. What had happened down there by the water? He couldn't remember a thing that had happened. Not the singing of the ocean or the demands of his own thoughts. It was all a blank to him now.

The brunette nodded. "Y-Yeah. Here let's sit down."

She knew if she didn't calm down her heart was going to combust. That's the last thing she wanted was a heart attack. They settled down on the white sand. Riku dug his hands into the dry sand as he tried to relax. It automatically stuck to his wet skin. The grains were becoming nice and cool since the sun had set. It helped ease the throbbing headache that covered his entire skull.

Vera wiped away a combination of seawater and tears with the back of her hand. This severely smeared her poorly applied makeup, making her resemble a raccoon. She wasn't used to wearing makeup so she didn't even notice. Her hair was soaked and the back of her head was clotted with sand. There was sand that had collected in other undesirable places too.

"How did we get so close to the sea?" Riku asked.

Vera eyed the merman suspiciously. First the boy was acting normal, the next he's in some kind of trance, and now he couldn't remember what had happened. This was just getting weirder by the second. What did it mean that he couldn't remember? "You mean… you don't remember?"

"No." Riku noticed the worry and fear in Vera's eyes again as she stared at him. He'd never seen her where that look before. Sure, he'd seen her nervous, but never afraid. Not like this anyway. He didn't like this expression. He much preferred to see her smile. His heart sunk a little when a thought occurred to him. "Did I… did I do something? What happened?"

"I'm not sure. You just said you wanted to be near the water and…" The girl fidgeted nervously with her hands. "We started coming this way..."

The merman tried to think back to what had happened, but he couldn't find the memory. The last thing he remembered was sitting on the beach and talking about the stars. There was nothing in his memories about walking towards the ocean. Riku squinted his eyes and massaged his right temple. It was where his head was pounding the most.

"I do not remember that at all." He said in an exasperated tone. It was so frustrating that he couldn't recall what had happened. He lowered his hands from his head. "Did I hurt you? You look so frightened."

"No, no, no." Vera quickly reassured him. "I'm fine. I'm just fine. It's not your fault. You weren't yourself. Are you okay?"

The sentence 'You weren't yourself' stuck out to Riku the most. "What do you mean? I… wasn't myself?"

Vera shrugged. "I don't know. You sort of blacked out back there. You wouldn't respond when I spoke to you. You mumbled about…" She recalled what Riku had said. "How the ocean was calling you, or something like that."

His eyes widened. "I said that?" He sighed and stared down at his hands. What had he done? Why couldn't he remember?

"Riku, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Vera asked.

"I think so." He said softly. "I'm just… very confused."

Vera stared at the ocean and cringed. She had made a decision. As long as Riku was human, she wasn't going to let him near the ocean ever again. She couldn't stand going through another episode like that. Her nerves were still on edge. It was probably wrong, it was a little selfish, but she thought it would be for the best. If the ocean had trigged Riku's trance, then the right thing to do would be to keep him away from it, at least until they figured out what had happened to him. Vera was afraid to suggest it. Riku loved the ocean so much. It was his home. She didn't want to keep him away from it, but she also didn't want to be near it again. It had to be done. Vera said a little shamefully, "You know, maybe we should hold off on going to the beach for a while."

The merman's heart sunk hearing those words. Stay away from the ocean? Could he stand to do it? Ever since he had become human, it was always calling to him. Did he have the strength to deny its call? Riku stared up into Vera's face. Those eyes were full of concern. They were worried about his wellbeing.

Honestly, Riku was worried about himself too. Actually, he was more than worried. He was scared. It wasn't normal for someone, even merfolk, to have memory blanks. Never in his life had he had something like this happen to him. Nor had he heard of any other merfolk experience the problem. He couldn't figure out what could have happened.

While staring into those honey brown irises, Riku decided that he should try to heed Vera's request. If it made her feel better for him to stay away from the sea, he would do it. For now at least.

The silver haired boy spoke reluctantly. "Okay."

His response only made Vera feel guiltier. She could tell he didn't like the idea. Trying to push her guilt away, Vera told herself. _This is right. As long as he stays away from the ocean, he'll be safe from going into that trance again. This is what is best for him._

"Maybe you just need some rest." Vera suggested as she scooted closer to Riku on the sand. "Have you eaten anything today?" Chill bumps rose up on her skin when a cold breeze blew by. Riku hunched up his shoulders and moved his arms closer to his sides. Once the wind passed, they felt better. At least the sun's warmth from the day hadn't completely disappeared yet. Otherwise, the two of them would have been freezing, but it was fading quickly. "Come on. Let's go back to the house. It gets cool out here at night pretty fast in the fall. We don't want to catch a cold."

Going back to Vera's home seemed like the sensible thing to do. Maybe he did need a quick bite to eat or a nap. Riku nodded and Vera helped him to his feet. He took one longing glance towards the sea before following Vera back up the winding beach path to her house. The best thing to do would be to rest. He could ponder on what happened later. In an attempt to get his mind off the incident, Riku asked Vera.

"What is a cold?"

Cloud and Demyx walked side by side down the back hallway at the aquarium. Their boss, Xehanort, had called them to his office for an important meeting. The young vet tech was feeling a bit nervous about seeing his boss. Every time he saw him lately, he was either really glad or really upset. There was either great news or bad news. There was no in-between emotion. So the boy was praying that he was in a good mood. He didn't want to experience being choked again.

Mr. Strife on the other hand, had a good idea what Xehanort was going to ask of them. Already, he had read halfway through the book that Xehanort had loaned him. It was so hard to put down, even though translating it became easily annoying. For once, he was thankful he had taken that dead languages class he had accidently signed up for in college.

When the two men reached Xehanort's office door, Demyx muttered. "I hope this isn't about me eating that last piece of strawberry cheese cake I found in the lounge. I didn't know it was the boss's."

"That was you?" Cloud glared at him.

"Y-Yeah, but I didn't know it was his. I thought it was someone else's. Honest!"

"It was someone else's. It was mine! Tifa gave it to me this morning to try."

Demyx sighed and wiped his brow. "Whoo! Thank God! It's okay if I steal your dessert, but the boss is another story. By the way, the cheesecake was delicious! Tifa's got some nice cooking skills."

"I wouldn't know."

Cloud knocked on the door and Xehanort summoned them inside. The orange eyed man was standing with his back turned to the two men. He was staring out the window as he held a cup of steaming black coffee.

"Mr. Strife, Demyx, I'm glad that you two could join me." Xehanort took a sip of his coffee, keeping his eyes on the outside world.

"What's going on, boss?" Demyx asked cautiously.

"I have a lead."

"A lead?" Cloud asked. "As to where the merman is?"

Xehanort finally faced his two employees. There was a sly smile playing on his lips. "Precisely."

"Really?" Demyx exclaimed. "Where is he? Are we going to go get him now?"

Xehanort shook his head, casting a slightly annoyed glance at Demyx. "I do not know his exact location. I only know—"

"The possible locations he could be." Cloud finished.

Xehanort gave Cloud a nod of approval. "Ah, I see you've been studying Mr. Strife. Very good. As Mr. Strife said, I do know the possible locations that the merman could be. This whole time, we have been searching the beaches and other bodies of water for the merman. We have been looking in the wrong places."

"The wrong places?" Demyx seemed surprised. "How can they be the wrong places? The ocean is his home."

Xehanort snapped his fingers making the vet tech flinch. He pointed at Demyx. "Yes, the ocean is his home. This whole time we have been asking ourselves, 'How is he going to attempt to get home? Where will he go?'" Xehanort walked around his desk to stand in front of the two men. "But what we haven't been asking ourselves is this: What if he doesn't want to go home?" Cloud and Demyx glanced at one another. "Where we should be looking is not near sea, but near land; more specifically, where humans reside." He took another drink from his coffee mug.

"Why would he be near people?" Demyx asked.

"Merfolk are a curious people, Demyx. Perhaps a bit too curious for their own good. They are also very social creatures. They desire interaction with others. We know that since the full moon, the merman now has the ability to walk on land, and we know that the merman did not escape alone." Xehanort went back to his desk and took out the pliers that were discovered in the merman's tank room. "Someone is helping him. That's the person he's going to be with." He dropped the pliers back into the drawer and slammed it shut. "So that's the person we have to find." Xehanort turned back to the window. "Search the town. See if you can find him. I'm sure he won't be without his little helper." The orange eyed man smirked. "We can kill two birds with one stone."

On the way up to the house, Vera had explained to Riku what a cold was. She had assumed that he had had one before, but didn't know the human term for it. "Don't you hate getting sick?" She asked him.

"I have never been sick before, at least not with a disease." He said.

She paused for a second then smiled. "Lucky. You must have some immune system." She wished that she could be that healthy.

"Actually," Riku rubbed the back of his head. "These diseases you spoke of, I have never heard any of my people contracting one. This is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing."

Vera had given Riku a confused look. "Are you saying that merfolk have never caught diseases."

"Um… I don't think we can."

"Get out!" Vera exclaimed when Riku told her that merfolk didn't catch diseases.

Riku's eyes widened in shock when Vera said that statement, he was hurt by her response. Had he said something wrong? Why did Vera want him to get out? What really happened was that he misunderstood the slang. "I'm sorry, Vera."

Vera was confused why Riku had apologized then she realized what the problem was. He thought that she wanted him to really get out. "Oh no, that's not what I meant!" She quickly reassured him.

"But… you told me to get out."

"I know, but I don't mean literally. I was just using an expression. You know, like the word cool."

"Oh…" He did know what that slang word meant. He had heard it a number of times on the television. "I see. So, 'Get out' means…" He thought about it for a second. "You cannot… believe it?"

"Exactly!"

Riku sighed in relief. He was afraid that he was going to give her a stupid response. He was thankful he had gotten it right. "That is a little confusing."

"And this is coming from the same guy who learned an entire language in just a few days." Vera laughed.

"I am still learning. There is still so much I do not know."

They climbed up the steps to the front porch. Vera reached out for the doorknob as she looked over her shoulder at Riku. "You really should give yourself more credit. You are really smart, Riku."

The merman couldn't help but blush at her compliment. He smiled at her shyly. "Thank you."

"Hey!"

Riku and Vera looked out towards the sandy road that led out to the highway. In the distance, they could see a hair of spikey golden hair, bouncing in the wind. Roxas ran with fatigue in his step. His face was drained and flustered. In his hands appeared to be two books. He was too far away for Riku and Vera tell what they were though.

Seeing her cousin, Vera smirked. _Yes! I've been looking forward to this. I can't wait to see the look on his face when Riku speaks. _

Roxas jogged up to the front porch and stopped in front of Vera. His brow was covered in sweat. He tucked the books under his right arm and placed his hands on his knees. He was gasping for air like he had just finished a marathon.

"What are you so out of breath about?" Vera asked. "You need to work out more."

"I ran… all the way… here from the library… non-stop… long way from… there to here..." Roxas noticed Vera and Riku were both dripping wet and covered in sand. "What happened… to you guys?"

Riku cast Vera a nervous glance. "Um…" Vera turned her face away as it started to fluster up. She didn't know what she could tell Roxas. The truth was the right thing of course, but he didn't need to know the whole story. Her cousin would jump to conclusions. He would think that the merman had attempted to hurt her. Vera didn't believe that though. She knew Riku would never harm her. Roxas didn't need to know the whole truth, at least not yet. She needed to protect Riku from everyone, even Roxas. "W-We went to the beach… waded in a little… and a wave knocked us down." She tried to say with a straight face.

"I thought you—"

"I'm trying to get over it." She snapped. She didn't want to talk about this anymore, and she did not want Riku to know that she hated the ocean. That would break his heart. So she went back to the subject of Roxas' run to her house. "You could have paced yourself, you know."

Once he caught his breath, Roxas straightened up. "Whatever, raccoon face. I found these books at the library. I think they could help." He held them out to Vera and she took a step back. There was disgust evident on her face. "What is it?" Roxas yelled. He was agitated. Running all the way from the library had worn him out. The least she could do was say thank you and take the heavy buggers off his hands.

"You had them under your sweaty arm pit. Eww!"

"Don't be such a pansy!" Roxas shoved the books into Vera's arms.

"Oh God, they stink!" She gagged to emphasize her point. It really wasn't that bad. Riku couldn't even smell it where he was. Vera was just exaggerating. Roxas and Vera loved to give each other a hard time.

"It's all manly man, Vera. Oh yeah! Get used to it." Roxas folded his hands behind his head. "Embrace the smell."

"Stop it! Put your arms down, right now! Do you where deodorant?"

"It kind of all sweated off on the way here."

Vera gagged again as she opened the door to her house. "Well, I think you need to get a prescription deodorant. Gross!"

Riku couldn't help but start laughing. Vera and Roxas were pretty funny to watch before he could understand their language, but now that he could, they were simply hilarious. He could see that they really enjoyed getting on each other's nerves. They were just like average bickering brothers and sisters. The merman could relate. He used to pick on Sora all the time, and Sora did the same to him. Picking out the little things that bug someone you're close to, even for just a moment, was fun to do. It's something that's hard to resist.

Vera took her sandy shoes off on the porch and advised Riku to do the same. The three teenagers entered the house. Vera shut and locked the door behind her. Cloud having to unlock the door when he got home, gave Riku time to hide before he got inside. Vera looked down at the books, at Riku, then herself. If they got sand on the furniture, Cloud would be pissed. Not to mention, he would be wondering why Vera was down on the beach when she was terrified of the ocean.

"Yes, you guys need a bath." Roxas said with a smirk playing on his lips. "I'll just take a seat on the couch and watch TV. You two play nice. I don't want to hear anything if you're doing something."

"Shut up, Roxas." The girl said between clenched teeth. She sighed and gestured for Riku to follow her to the bathroom. On her way there, she thought of how she was going teach Riku how to take a bath the human way. _Riku can speak and understand what I say now. So, all I have tell him is to: run the bath water, get a towel and washcloth, and then… _She opened the bathroom door. Her cheeks started getting hot and red. _Take your clothes off and get in the water… that should be easy to say. Yes Sirree. _

After closing the door behind him, Riku asked. "What are we doing?"

The girl had walked over to a cabinet in the corner of the room. She reached inside and took out a white towel and washcloth. "We are going to take a bath—Er I mean—You're going to take a bath first, alone, by yourself, without me." She laughed nervously.

"A bath?" Riku scanned the bathroom. There was a sink and counter on the left side of the small room. On the right side was a white cabinet. In the center of the room on the back wall was a white claw foot bathtub and shower. The shower curtain was a navy blue. This didn't look like the right place for a bath to him. In Riku's world, taking a bath just involved scrubbing your body with soft sea urchins, shining your tail by rubbing it with seaweed and fish oil, and brushing your hair with Willow Moss extract(to keep the hair healthy and shiny) by using a fish skeleton or abandoned human comb. That was it. Vera's bathroom didn't have any of that stuff. So he was completely clueless as to how humans took a bath. "How?"

Vera gulped when he asked that. "Well, first we need to fill the tub with water." She walked over to the bathtub and demonstrated. "Make sure these two tabs are pointing in the same direction. That way the water will be warm. Next," Vera flipped the switch that activated the stopper. "You turn this on so the water won't go out." She placed her hand midway up on the porcelain surface. "Let the water get to about here then turn it off like this." She turned the water off then back on. She picked up a bottle of bubble bath and smiled.

_I'll put some bubbles in here. He'll probably like that. _

With a little squeeze of the bottle, pink syrup dripped into the water. It instantly began to bubble up.

Riku walked over and examined the bathtub. It was pearly white and smooth. Touching it, he saw that it was also kind of slick. There was white foam floating on the water. The merman knelt down and picked up a handful. The foam kind of looked like…

"Bubbles?" He looked up at Vera curiously.

"Yep. It's a bubble bath. It makes a bath more enjoyable for humans."

The bubbles were so different from the ones he was used to. In the ocean, bubbles were clear and individual. These bubbles were white with a rainbow gleam. They were huddled closely together and stuck to his skin when he touched them.

Riku lightly blew on the bubbles and they floated back into the tub. He grinned. "Neat! I like them."

"I thought that you would." She returned his smile.

Vera then stared bashfully down at the floor. Riku waited for her to continue, but she didn't speak again until the water had filled the tub. The girl took a deep breath and turned the water off.

"Do I get in?" Riku asked.

"Yes…"

_Why are her cheeks turning so red?_ Riku wondered. "Okay, I'll do that." He started to get in with his clothes on, but Vera pulled him back.

"No! You can't do that. Not yet. You have to do something else first."

Riku raised his eyebrows. "All right, what?" The girl lowered her head and muttered something. Riku didn't hear her. "You need to speak up, Vera."

She cleared her throat, wringing her hands. "You… have to… you have to take your clothes off."

The merman didn't even flinch at the sentence. Riku did not understand the concept of covering up. He had never worn clothes until he became human, and personally he thought it was kind of silly. Humans were beautiful creatures, why did they have to hide under fabric all the time? Those girls in Roxas' magazine hadn't been clothed, so why weren't the other humans. He had blushed and thrown the magazine down when he had seen the photo, but it wasn't because he was embarrassed of seeing them bare. He was actually just really shocked to see unclothed humans. He had never seen one before. Although, the thought of seeing Vera in her true form made his face flush, and his body felt hot all of a sudden.

Riku took off his white and yellow vest. It slid off his arms and fell softly to the floor. His nimble fingers unzipped his black tank, he dropped it onto the pile behind him then he smiled at her. His chest was completely bare now. It was defined, fair, and smooth. Vera was so tempted to touch his hard stomach, to feel the creases of his firm abs, but turned her back to him instead. She was really afraid. Not afraid of Riku, but herself. Riku was being very seductive and he wasn't even trying. There was no doubt in her mind that if she saw him shed anymore clothing, she'd tackle him.

"Vera?"

"Y-Yes?" She struggled to keep her voice even. She was on the verge of giggling like a little school girl.

"Could you help me? This thing you call a belt… I can't get it off." He felt embarrassed to ask for help. It was simple to do, Roxas had shown him, but for some reason he was having trouble with it.

Her heart rate quickened. She glanced up at the ceiling. _You're testing me aren't you?_ Could she do that without turning into mush? "Okay." Vera kept her eyes on the floor as she walked up to Riku. _Just unbuckle the belt, Vera. There is nothing sexy about this. You're just helping a friend. _She accidently made eye contact with Riku. That was the wrong thing for her to do. It caused a small quiet gasp to accidently escape her lips.

"You okay, Vera?" Riku asked. She was acting kind of strange.

"O-Of course." She stared back down at the floor. "What makes you think that?"

"Your face is really red."

"Um… it's just hot in here, that's all." _More like on fire. _She thought. She stared back down at the black studded belt and started to quickly unbuckle it. Her mind fought to stay focused. It felt like an eternity to remove it, when in reality it only took a second. "See just like that." Vera pulled the belt out of the belt loops, pulling Riku towards her by accident. He bumped into her and she let out a little squeal of surprise.

"Sorry," He chuckled. That squeal had been really cute. He kind of wanted to hear it again, and he was almost tempted to make her do so. He decided against it. Right now he had to take a bath.

Vera jumped back and started compulsively smoothing her hair with her fingers. "It's okay. Just um, uh, finish…. Undressing and get in the water." She turned back towards the door and folded her arms in front of her. The magic that Riku possessed over the girl still amazed her. Riku made her feel emotions she'd never felt before. _Riku… what do you do to me?_

The merman did as she said and removed his jeans and boxers. He kicked them into the pile with his other clothes. Once he stripped himself bare, he stepped into the warm bath water. He couldn't help but sigh as he settled down into the steaming liquid. It felt really good. It reminded him of the bubbling mud springs back home only less thick. He leaned his head against the back of the tub and let his arms hang out over the sides as he slouched. Several strands of silver hair flowed around him in the water. His legs almost dangled over the edge when he stretched out. It was very relaxing. He turned his head to look at Vera.

"Okay, I'm in."

Vera cautiously faced the merman. With Riku in the bathtub, she couldn't see anything, so she thought she would be okay. She was wrong. When she saw how Riku was posed, she wished that she hadn't turned around. He was completely mesmerizing, gorgeous, sexy, and adorable.

Riku studied Vera. Her face became even more crimson and her eyes were wide. The merman really had no idea how entranced she was with him. When Vera didn't say anything, Riku asked.

"What's next?"

"Um…" Vera slightly shook her head as she tried to clear the fantasies that were popping up in her head. The girl picked up one of the bottles beside the tub. The bottle was black with the words Axe shampoo/body wash. It was her dad's. It was the only manly soap she had so it would have to do for Riku. "Take this and squirt a little soap onto the washcloth." She showed him how to do it. "Then wash your hair. Make sure your hair is wet before you use the shampoo. Scrub your scalp until it gets nice and soapy then rinse with water. Next wash your whole body and then rinse the soap off when you're done. Got it?" Vera held the soap and washcloth to him.

Riku took it and examined the two items. "That sounds easy enough."

Vera took a step towards the door. "When you get done, get out and dry yourself off with the towel. I'll go get some clean clothes for you to change into."

"Okay. Thank you, Vera."

Her face heated up again. "No problem."

Vera went to her room and changed into some dry clothes. After placing her wet clothes on her balcony to dry, she looked through Riku's bag of clothes. She settled on something comfortable. Lounge clothing would be fine to wear at this time. There was a pair of black flannel pants with a white waistband and a soft grey T-shirt. It felt comfy so that's what she picked out. She went back into the bathroom and placed the clothes on the sink without glancing at Riku. She could hear the water tinkling back into the water as he raised the washcloth and wringed it out.

"Be careful getting out of the tub. It can get slick." She said.

"I will."

Vera left the bathroom and went to see her cousin. Roxas was sitting in the recliner with his feet propped up. The show 1000 Ways to Die was on the television. Vera took a seat on the couch, and Roxas turned the volume on the TV down.

"So, what have you discovered?" Vera asked.

While Roxas and Vera discussed the book that he had found, Riku was checking out the black bottle that Vera had given him. He opened the lid and took a whiff. The smell was strong and burned his nose. The merman coughed and held his nose. _Does she really want me to wash in that? It smells awful!_ Riku closed the lid and placed the bottle back on the shelf. That smell was too much for him to take. There had to be another bottle of soap that had a more pleasant scent. Surely Vera would understand. There were several different colored bottles near him. He picked up a green bottle and took a sniff. The smell wasn't as bad as the Axe, but it still gave him a headache. He tried the rest of the bottles. Some were better than others. Most were either very strong or fruity, and he really didn't like either. Finally he reached for the last bottle. It was clear with yellow liquid inside. On the front were pink flowers. The merman opened the cap and took a whiff. He really liked it. It wasn't like the others. There was something about this soap. The smell… it was familiar. He took another sniff. That overwhelming scent, where had he smelled it before? He took another whiff, practically inhaling it. He sighed when he recognized it.

"Vera…"

The body wash smelled a lot like Vera. The only difference was that it was missing the girl's own intriguing unique essence, his favorite part. Riku thought it smelled so nice that it was good enough to eat. That gave him an idea. Vera never said you couldn't. The merman squeezed some of the soap onto his hand. The wonderful smell of cherry blossoms filled his nose. The curious boy lifted the sweet smelling soap to his lips and licked it. A bitter taste erupted in his mouth. "Ugh!" Riku started to gag and spit. It had not tasted like he had imagined. He tried desperately to scrap the nasty taste off his tongue.

_That wasn't the smartest thing I ever done. _He thought.

It didn't taste good, but he still liked the smell. He started to squirt the soap into his hands then stopped. _Oh wait! Vera said my hair had to be wet before I put the… what did she call it?Oh yeah! Shampoo. I like that name. _He chuckled. "Shammmm poo! That's fun to say."

Riku dipped his head under the water. Sadly, he forgot that he could no longer breathe under the water and came back up coughing and gasping for air. That was hard to remember when he had been living in the ocean his entire life. _That's hard to get used to. _He thought. His hands reached up and felt of his hair. It was damp now, so could use the soap. Using a little bit of the cherry blossom soap, he placed it on his head. He worked it into a soapy lather. He saw that with the soap, he could make his hair as spikey as Sora's. The merman played around with his hair, giving himself all sorts of different styles. He spiked his hair up as similar to Sora's as he could. Riku checked his reflection in the mirror behind him.

_Eh… Sora can pull off spikes way better than I can. _He smoothed his hair back down. _Better start washing off now._

"Look here!" Roxas exclaimed making Vera roll her eyes. He turned to a page in the old book about the water spirits. "It says the Nix can take many different forms. They can become a human, fish, or snake. That's kind of like Riku, isn't it?"

So far everything Roxas had shown her in this book didn't sound like Riku at all. These Nix and Nixies lived in rivers and drowned people. Riku lived in the ocean and he had saved her. There couldn't be a connection. This information was useless and they were just wasting time.

"I don't think so. He's human, yeah, but I don't know if he's ever been completely a fish or snake."

"Well when he gets out, we'll ask him." He chuckled. "Riku ever been fishy before?" He said in a mocking tone.

Vera let out an agitated sigh. "This isn't helping."

Roxas snorted. "You just don't think this book has any useful help because it says that these Nixes drown people."

"Exactly. Riku wouldn't hurt anybody."

"How do you know that?"

Vera glared daggers at the golden hair boy. "Because he saved my life! He's sweet and kind and innocent. He would never think about hurting anyone."

"You just keep telling yourself that. The truth is, Vera, you hardly know anything about him. We might as well make use of the info we have."

"But it's wrong!"

"Hmm…" Roxas rubbed his chin as he read another paragraph. "Does Riku have a slit on his ears?"

"What?" Vera asked in an exasperated tone. That was the stupidest thing the book had said.

"It says that a Nix has a slit on their ears."

"I don't know." Vera folded her arms in front of her. "I doubt it."

"Ah!" Roxas' straightened up to see over Vera's head. "Well, here he comes now. Take a look for yourself."

Vera looked over the couch. Riku was wearing the clothes she had picked out for him. It really flattered his form. His hair was still slightly wet from the bath. "Riku, could you tuck your hair behind your ears please?" Riku stopped walking and gave Vera a confused look. He cautiously did as she said. "Come here." The merman sat down beside of Vera on the couch. He chuckled when she touched his right ear. Her fingers felt around the shell of his ear, trying to find the slit that Roxas had spoken of. She didn't find anything.

"Well?" Roxas asked.

Vera shook her head. "I don't feel anything. It feels just like a regular human ear. I told you!"

Riku opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Roxas interrupted him before he could. "Let me feel!"

Roxas grabbed a hold of Riku's left ear not very gently. "Ow!" Riku cried.

"Stop it Roxas! You're hurting him!"

Roxas loosened his grip. "Sorry, Riku. Let's see here." He did the same thing that Vera had and got the same results. "Nothing. Crap."

"See the book is wrong." Vera said.

"Just because that part's incorrect, it doesn't mean the rest is." Roxas got down in front of his cousin, challenging her.

"Yes it does." She accepted his challenge.

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does!" She stood up from the couch with her hands clenched into fists.

"No it doesn't!" Roxas leaned towards her with a glare in his eyes.

"It dose too!"

"It does not!"

"It does not!"

"It does too!" Roxas had fallen for Vera's trick.

She laughed. "Ha! You admitted it. I'm right."

"I did not!" Roxas yelled.

"You did too!"

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

"Why do you always start this?" Roxas stomped his foot.

"I didn't start anything. I'm just saying the book is wrong!"

"We don't know that yet! You just don't want to admit you're wrong! You're always like this!"

The two cousins continued to argue. Riku looked from one to the other each time they yelled. He wanted to say something, but he really couldn't get a word in.

"Um…" Riku started.

"I think you're just too spellbound to take anyone else's opinion on this." Roxas said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vera snapped.

"What you think about Riku, you want it to be right, and you won't accept any other explanation until your theory is proven. Well, guess what? It's not! For all we know, mermaids and mermen might be lying, two faced, evil, incubus, drowning monsters!"

What happened next made Roxas instantly wish that he had held his tongue. The blue eyed boy gasped and suddenly jumped back from the couch, falling onto the carpet floor. Vera quickly grabbed an enraged Riku and struggled to keep his arms locked behind his back as he tried to attack her cousin. Riku was snorting like an angry bull. His aquamarine eyes showed his rage. The merman was so angry that he could hardly speak. His entire body shook with his fury. Roxas could insult him, but he would not let him insult his people.

"How d-dare you! My people… my people would never do such horrid things! The council forbids the murder of humans! We keep our distance from the human world. We wouldn't interfere for senseless killing! And even if any… any merperson were to harm a human, they would be tied down on the wheel of death… an- and- and have their limbs stretched until they were ripped apart from their body! Then whatever was left would be dropped into the endless abyss. They would have their flesh eaten by the worms and filth that live there!"

Roxas stared at Riku with his mouth hanging wide open. His eyes were full of shock. The boy was completely flabbergasted by the merman. When did he learn to talk like that?

"Riku, please calm down…" Vera said as gently as he could. "He didn't mean it, he's just mad. H-he's just silly. I pushed the wrong buttons. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." He growled.

The silver haired boy pulled roughly against Vera's hold, making her stagger forward. She grunted as she forced him back into her arms. Today, she had wanted Roxas to hear Riku speak and be surprised, but she hadn't wanted it to happen like this. This was a disaster. The girl was panting as she fought with the merman. She didn't know how much longer she could keep him back. Already she was so tired. Riku was really strong. She could feel his muscles tensing up. They seemed to get bigger. Once she lost her grip, Riku had every intention of beating Roxas to a pulp. She couldn't let him do that.

"Take it back!" He spat at Roxas. "Take back what you said right now!"

The golden haired boy remained silent. He was still bewildered that Riku was speaking.

"Roxas, tell him you're sorry!" Vera yelled.

"Um… I'm sorry." Roxas said slowly. He hardly acted like he was afraid. Didn't he realize that Riku wanted to kill him? "Was this the surprise, Vera?" He laughed nervously.

Riku continued to try to attack Roxas. "He said he was sorry, Riku!" Vera pulled back with all her strength.

"Words don't matter to me. It's what's in your heart." Riku said. He was starting to break free again.

"He means it. He does!"

"No he does not. I can tell! The eyes express emotion. I do not see any apology in his eyes. That is what matters."

"Roxas, say it like you mean it, please!" She cried desperately. "I can't hold him much longer!"

Her cousin nodded and looked Riku in the eyes. He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm sorry, Riku. I shouldn't have said that."

The merman stopped struggling and Vera let out a sigh of relief. Riku continued to glare at Roxas and remained tense. There was no doubting that he was still upset. Vera knew she needed to coax him to settle down. Since he ceased his struggling, Vera moved around to face Riku, making sure to keep a good grip on his arms just in case he decided to try anything. She hoped to block Roxas out of his line of sight. She really didn't know what to say, so she settled on hushing sounds. Her hands began to gently stroke his arms, hoping to ease his him. She was praying that he would relax.

"It's all right, Riku. He apologized, and he means it. Don't you, Roxas?"

Thankfully, Roxas didn't hesitate and went along with her. "Yes, of course."

Finally, Riku's eyes softened and he relaxed his muscles. "Okay."

Vera held the merman for another second just to be safe then released him. Vera and Roxas stared at Riku for a moment. His outburst had astonished both of them. The merman looked between the two of them. He suddenly felt embarrassed for acting the way he did. He could have handled the situation better without involving violence. What had he been thinking earlier? Had he really intended on hurting Roxas? No, he realized he hadn't. What he really wanted was to kill him. And yet he had said it was forbidden to hurt humans and he had been threatening to hurt Roxas. He felt like a complete hypocrite. Where had all that anger come from? Yes it was natural to get mad at hearing such an insult, but not like he had felt. The anger he had felt didn't feel normal. It made him feel… like an animal. It was wild and wasn't controlled. Riku wasn't the kind of person that got angry like that, but Roxas had triggered something. It had been like a darker side of him had taken over.

His gaze settled on Vera. There it was again. That look in her eyes. Fear. He took a step away from the two cousins. He had frightened Vera yet again. Twice in one day. He was completely disgusted with himself. Riku turned his back to the girl. He was too ashamed to look at her. The room suddenly felt really small and too warm. He wanted to get away. He couldn't stand there another minute. The words he wanted to say didn't come easily to him.

"I… I… I need to be alone."

His eyes settled on Vera's room and he headed that way as fast as he could. He tried running, but half way down the hallway he stumbled onto his knees. Blushing like mad, he braced his left hand against the wall and pushed himself back up. He hurried into Vera's room without closing the door. The merman was no longer in Vera's or Roxas' view.

"Wow!" Roxas chuckled nervously. "I did not see that coming today. That was quite a surprise. How did he…?"

"He taught himself. He learned from watching others and the TV. It only took him a few days."

"That's amazing." There was silence for a minute. "I wouldn't have said that if I knew he could understand it." Vera didn't say anything and Roxas groaned. "Yeah you're right. Either way I would have been a jerk."

Vera wrapped her arms around herself. "I've never seen him act like that before. I've never seen him angry before. It's kind of…" She didn't want to say the word so Roxas said it for her.

"Scary. Yeah, it was. I thought he was going to kill me."

"He seemed… sort of shocked that he had gotten so upset. Did you notice that?"

Roxas just shrugged his shoulders. "What are you going to do now?"

Vera wandered into the kitchen and leaned her elbow on the counter. "I guess I'll give him some space since that's what he asked for. In a little while, I'll see if he wants to talk."

"That sounds like the right thing to do. Maybe I should stay, just in case he—"

"He wouldn't do anything to me! The only reason he got mad, was because you pushed the wrong buttons. You not only insulted him, but you insulted his people. I think that's what hurt him the most."

"Still…"

"Just try and see this from his point of view, Roxas. Think about it. What if Seifer started talking trash about your family? What would you do?"

Roxas lowered his head in defeat. "I'd probably try to knock his teeth out. Okay, I get it." He rubbed the back of his head. "I better get home before it gets any darker outside." He walked towards the front door and stopped. "I'm sorry I caused so much trouble. I was only trying to help."

Vera said nothing then she nodded slowly. "I know you were. It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

Roxas left leaving Vera alone in the kitchen. The girl scratched her head. Several sand partials collected in her hand. It was her turn to take a bath now. So that's what she did. She took a quick shower, washing off all of the excess dirt and sand on her body. Once she finished taking a shower, she decided to sweep up around the living. There were little bits of sand all over the house. Her dad would be mad if he saw that. Vera pulled out the vacuum cleaner from the hall closet and swept up the living room, kitchen, and hallway. It took her about fifteen minutes to do it all. After putting the vacuum away, she stared at her bedroom door then the kitchen.

_I should bring him something to eat. I'm sure he's hungry. _

Vera went into the kitchen and prepared him some dinner. She placed some frozen fish sticks onto a plate. She wanted to see if he wanted to try another human food, so she added a piece of toast. It was bland so she thought he could handle it. Maybe if he enjoyed it, she would offer to spread some butter on it. Vera made herself a turkey sandwich and scarfed it down. She had forgotten how hungry she was.

_I better go see how he's doing now._

After filling a glass of water up for him to drink, Vera picked up the plate and walked to her bedroom door. She poked her head inside. Riku was nowhere to be seen. She started to panic, but then she saw that her balcony door was open. There behind the glass, she could see Riku leaned up against the wall with one knee pulled up to his chest. He was resting his chin on his pulled up knee as he stared out at the ocean.

"Hey," She said quietly. Riku looked up at Vera then turned his head away shamefully. The girl crouched down beside of him. "I thought you might be hungry so I brought you something to eat." He remained silent. She sat the plate down in front of him. "They're Fish sticks, your favorite. And I added some toast too. I thought that maybe you would like to try another human food."

"Thank you." Riku whispered without removing his gaze from the floor.

Silence followed after this. Vera couldn't stand to see him like this. She had to cheer him up somehow. "No one is mad at you, Riku. We don't blame you for getting angry. It's only natural. Roxas said he would have done the same thing if he was in your position. He's cool with you, if that's what you're worried about."

Silence filled the air. After a few minutes, Vera decided she would give Riku a little more time. As she started to stand up, Riku spoke. "I don't know what came over me. I've never felt so angry before. I don't know where it all came from. I felt so…" He searched for the word that he desired. "Primitive. I…" He turned to Vera with a pained expression. "I frightened you. I frightened you again."

Seeing the hurt in his eyes made Vera's heart ache. She quickly tried to assure him that she was fine. "No… no, I wasn't scared. I was… just shocked."

"What is the difference?"

He had a point there. The truth was he had scared Vera, only not in the way that he thought. She had to tell him that.

"Okay." She said softly. "I admit it. I was scared." Riku bit his lower lip. Those words were even more painful to hear when they were coming out of her mouth. What she said next though, surprised him. "But not in the way that you think." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I wasn't scared of you, Riku. I was scared that something was hurting you. Making you act different. I know what happened today wasn't your fault. I could see that. You wouldn't act like that unless something was wrong. It's not like you."

"Do you… do you really think so?"

"Of course I do, and we'll figure out what happened. But for now, let's not think about it. You just take it easy." She smiled a little. "I don't like to see you upset." Riku smiled back at her. She scooted Riku's plate closer to him. "Now, eat up. You must be hungry after everything today."

Riku picked up the plate and laid it on his lap. "A little bit." He took a bite of a frozen fish stick. "Mm…"

The merman didn't realize how hungry he really was until he started eating. He devoured everything on his plate; even the toast which he thought was pretty good. It was much better than the nasty pizza he had tried. When he was finished, Vera took his plate back to the kitchen. She grabbed her backpack in the living room. Mr. Minlow had assigned them homework on cell division. After what happened with her last assignment, she knew she needed to do good on this one. When she returned, Riku was sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I apologize for how I acted. I promise you, it will not happen again."

Vera took out her biology book and binder. She looked over her shoulder at the merman. "It's no big deal. I told you, everything is fine." She laid her schoolwork down on the bed. "So don't beat yourself up about it. Okay?"

"But…"

"I mean it, Riku. Don't fret over this."

He sighed. "Okay."

"Good." She grinned. "Now, I have to get some science homework done. Do you want to help me?"

Riku raised his eyebrows. "What is that?"

"Its work I have to do for school. The teachers send us work to do at home and then we have to bring it back the next day. It's a pain."

"I see, but how can I help you? I don't know anything about… science, did you call it?"

"I can teach you. To be honest," She laughed nervously. "I didn't listen to a thing the teacher said today in class. So I have no idea how to do this homework."

Riku frowned at her. "Why did you not listen?"

That look he gave Vera made her blush. It was like he was disappointed with her. She lowered her head so he wouldn't see. "Well… I had some other things on my mind."

"Like what?"

Her face became redder. She had been hoping he wouldn't ask that question. "Um… it doesn't matter now." She sat down on the bed beside him and picked up her biology book. "Since I didn't listen to the teacher, I'll need to read instead. I'll read aloud if you want."

Riku grinned. "I would like that very much."

The two teens got comfortable, leaning against the backboard of Vera's bed. The girl found the chapter she was looking for and began reading out loud. Riku was utterly fascinated with everything she said. Every time Vera finished a paragraph, Riku asked questions. The girl didn't mind, in fact, answering the merman's question helped her understand the content better herself. After an hour and a half, they finished the chapter.

"What did you think?" Vera asked.

"It was very interesting." His eyes seemed to sparkle with glee.

Vera giggled and glanced down at her text book. "Yeah, I have to admit, it kind of was."

Riku stared down at his hands. "To think that all living things are made up of such tiny creatures… these cells. It is simply amazing." He looked back up at Vera. "And some only have one cell, right?"

She nodded. "Like bacteria. They are single celled organisms."

"Bacteria… it makes humans sick."

"Well not all of them. I think there are good bacteria in our bodies. I'm sure you have some too."

"Huh?" Riku didn't like that idea. Thinking about living little good or evil organisms inside him was creepy.

"You said that merpeople never get sick, right? You probably have some kind of bacteria inside you that helps keep you healthy." Vera said.

Riku thought about that. "Hm… maybe you're right." He suddenly laughed.

"What is it?"

"The elders, they live for knowledge. They would skin their own tails to get this information." He laughed again. "Then again, they probably wouldn't believe it either. I am still trying to… absorb it myself." Riku leaned back on his elbows and stretched his legs out on the bed. "There is so much that humans know. It is fascinating."

Vera shrugged. "There is also a lot that we don't know. Hey, Riku?" She slouched against the backboard.

"Hm?"

"Tell me about your home. Are there big underwater cities?" There was so much more that Vera wanted to know about Riku. She knew that she hadn't even broken the surface of his life and history. Maybe asking about his civilization would be a good start.

The silver haired boy tucked his arms behind his head. "A city?" His mind wondered back home to the ocean. "Yes, we have one. It is nothing like a human city though."

"What is it called?"

"Let me think." Riku closed his eyes for a few seconds as he translated the merfolk city name to human. When he finished, he opened his eyes. "In English, it would be called Aequoris I think."

"That's a pretty name." Vera smiled. "Where is it at?"

Riku smiled back. He was very pleased that Vera was so interested in his world. He planned on telling her everything he could about it. "Very deep in the ocean, within a…" He squinted. The word he wanted was avoiding him. "Vo… Volcano! That's it."

"What?" Vera exclaimed. Riku was shocked by her reaction and sat straight up in the bed. "Your city is inside a volcano? How is that even possible?"

"The Elders said the volcano has been there since the beginning of time. It was the core that created the land the humans live on today. After land was created, the merpeople created their city there. "

"Doesn't it get… really hot in there? I mean, it is a volcano. "

Riku shook his head. "It has been inactive for a long time. Unless you travel near the bottom where the mud pools are, the… temperature stays normal."

Vera whistled. "I never would have imagined that merpeople would live inside a volcano. That's incredible! Tell me more."

Riku chuckled. "Very well then. No, there is not any lava. Like I said, unless you travel really deep, you'll be fine. Most of the volcano is very hollow. There are many vast tunnels and caverns to explore."

"What are in the caverns?"

"Mostly housing and… what would humans call them? Traders… that is the right word. Traders set up shops inside of the caves on the east side of the volcano. There are many places where we can… exchange items for others. Sora and I usually went there to barter for human things."

Vera raised an eyebrow. "I thought the Elders didn't like merfolk to be exposed to anything human. Why would they allow you to trade human things?"

"Because they don't know that we do." Riku gave Vera a sly grin. "We are not supposed to, so we keep it a secret. There are… rogue traders that would bring in the most interesting and useful human objects."

"How did you know how to use them?" Vera asked.

Riku chuckled. "I'm not sure we did use them the right way, or the human way, but the way we used them was helpful."

The brunette laughed. "As long as it works for whatever you use it for, then it's the right way to use it. That's what I think."

The merman agreed and continued to describe the merfolk city. "At the center of the city is where the elder council's chambers are. It is the largest cavern and the most beautiful. It's carved with pearls and colorful corals."

Vera tried to picture what Riku said inside her head. Although what she imagined was pretty, she knew it couldn't be anything compared to the real thing. "It sounds wonderful. Go on."

"On the west side, there are the caves for housing. It's where the people of the city live."

Vera leaned her chin on her knees. "Is that where you live?"

"Oh no, of course not." Riku said quickly. "You have to be… born with importance, be guests or family of the elder council, or be personally asked by the elder council to live there. I don't qualify to stay in such a place."

"So where do you live."

"I live several leagues away from Aequoris."

"What's your house like? Is it a cave too?" Her eyes grew wider as her imagination grew. "Is it covered in gold, pearls, and gems? It must be lovely."

Riku's face began to flush. Honestly, his house was not all that great. He knew he could tell Vera that he lived in a great palace of treasures, and she would believe him, but that would be lying. He didn't want to lie to her, even if the truth was embarrassing. "No…" He said slowly as he lowered his head. "I live in… what's left of this old sunken ship from a long time ago…" Vera simply stared at him. Riku's cheeks turn a deeper shade of crimson. "It's not… a common house… and it isn't much, but it's enough for me."

"That's so awesome!" Vera squealed. Riku looked back up at her surprised. Excitement gleamed in her honey brown eyes. "That's just like in the storybooks! Mermaids and mermen living in old sunken ships… It's just so cool that you actually live in a sunken ship."

The merman smiled a little. He was relieved that Vera didn't look down upon him because of his poor home. "I never knew that I was living as a… stereotype merman."

"That's what makes it neat. Now, you have to tell me about your family…" Vera trailed off when she saw Riku's face suddenly go pale. He turned his back to the girl. He rested his elbows on his knees as he stared out at the ocean. He did his best to conceal his face from her. Riku didn't like to hear the word "family". It brought on too many sad and lonely memories.

"Family?" Riku barely managed to utter.

"Yeah…" The girl spoke cautiously. She knew she had touched something that was painful for him. She wished that she hadn't done that. She wanted to take it back.

"Which one?"

Vera's eyebrows crinkled together. "Which… one?"

Riku let out a long sigh. "My real family or my adoptive one?"

Vera hardly stifled her gasp. "You… you lost your family?" Riku nodded slowly. "W-What happened?" When Riku didn't answer she added. "I'm sorry. I… it's none of my business. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Riku closed his eyes. "My real family… my mother and father…. They died. No one knows how or why. All that was left… was their scared and battered bodies. They never could figure out what killed them. I was only five years old when they died."

"That's awful. It—it's horrible. I'm so sorry." Vera felt terrible. If she had known this was a bad topic for the merman, she never would have brought it up. It killed her to see him so sad.

"Me too." He took a deep breath then exhaled. "After they were found, Sora's family took me in. I lived with them until about… three years ago. Sora's family was great. They took great care of me and loved me like I was their own, but I didn't want to burden them anymore. They begged me to stay, but I just couldn't. I wanted to try and find my place in the world. So I went out and found the sunken ship, and I've been living there ever since."

Vera scooted over to sit beside of Riku. She watched him for a moment. His sad aquamarine eyes stared out at the blue abyss for a few seconds before closing them. Vera understood his pain. She understood that emptiness and agony of losing someone you loved. Riku had opened up to her, so now she wanted to do the same. It was hard to talk about, but she wanted to do it. She wanted to let him know that she could relate. That he wasn't alone.

"I lost my mother, Aerith, three years ago." Riku's eyes snapped open and he stared down at Vera. Her head was bowed as she wringed her hands. "She was a theologian. She studied religions of certain time periods, mainly the middle ages, around the 15th century. She used to work at this little museum on the other side of the island. What happened… it was a freak accident. Mom was examining some old swords with inscriptions on the blades. Apparently, she couldn't translate them so she called one of her colleagues who could." It was then that Vera's voice began to crack. Her hands were now clenching one another. "Her office was on the second floor, so she had to go down the narrow stairwell." She swallowed as tears began to slide down her cheeks. "The swords were placed in protective containers. The evidence… it showed that she made it half way down the stairs. Something happened… she must have tripped. She dropped the sword container and it shattered…"

She started to break down even more. Her cracked voice turned into whimpers. She was regretting her choice to talk about her mother. It was more painful to talk about than she had anticipated. She thought she could handle keeping her emotions bottled up. Apparently she couldn't. Her hand was clutched over her scarred wrist. So badly she wanted to use her nails to rip the scabs open. Use pain to forget pain. That's how she had coped with her mother's death and her dad's agony, but she couldn't do that in front of Riku.

Riku's face grew graver as she spoke. The woman in the picture, he hadn't seen her around the house because she wasn't there. She had left this world. She had passed on and left Vera and her father alone. He had expected Vera to stop speaking when she began to sob, but she struggled to continue her story.

"One of t-the s-swords…. I-It landed w-wrong... it got c-caught in the r-rail… right at an angle… mom fell… mom f-fell… she fell forward…" She couldn't finish her sentence. She didn't want to finish it. It was just too horrible and difficult to put into words. Vera gave up and cradled her face in her hands.

Although Vera didn't finish, she didn't have to. It all made sense to Riku. There were enough clues to know what had happened next. It was clear. One of the swords that Aerith had dropped had gotten caught in the railing of the staircase. It landed in a dangerous position and Vera's mother must have fallen the wrong way. Aerith must have gotten impaled through the chest or the stomach by the sword.

All his life, Riku had wondered what happened to his parents, but after hearing Vera's story, he was afraid to know. How had they met their demise? Was it as awful as how Vera's mother had died? He didn't want the true image of his parent's death. It would be worse than the ones he had imagined and had nightmares about.

Riku was horrified at seeing Vera being brought to such tears. He wouldn't have it. It hurt him to see her like this. He wrapped his arms around her shaking form. "It's okay. You do not have to say anymore."

"I-Im s-s-sorry." Vera whimpered. "I d-didn't mean t-to d-do this."

"Vera…" Riku said softly. "Do not apologize. It is only natural to cry for the ones we have lost."

The girl buried her head in Riku's chest. Being held by Riku, the pain in Vera's heart began to subside. The impulse to hurt herself died down a little. She still wanted to bleed out her pain, but… the merman was acting as some kind of antidote. This sensation that was killing the dangerous impulse… she liked it. Whatever Riku was doing, she liked it very much. Riku was giving her the very thing she had always desired. To be comforted by someone who understood her. To be comforted by someone who had felt her pain. The same comfort Cloud had never given her.


End file.
